When they began their adulterous love affair in June 1921, Edith Thompson was a capricious, Fanciful, vivacious married woman of 27, and Freddy Bywaters, a handsome, sensual young seaman of 18. Eighteen months later their ill-fated liaison was to reach its dramatic apogee when, in January 1923, both were hanged for the murder of Edith's husband, Percy. Since then, many books and articles have been written about the case and its grisly outcome. To some it was a sordid tale of two immoral, selfish people who would stop at nothing to satisfy their carnal appetites. Others felt that Edith Thompson was simply a victim of the strict moral climate that prevailed in the early Twenties. Fortunately the events leading up to that fateful conclusion were all chronicled in the copious letters Edith wrote to her young lover between September 1921 and October 1922. Analysing these letters, and after studying the transcripts of11 the trial, the authors have reached the conclusion that I Freddy Bywaters was treated very harshly by the court, and that Edith Thompson was the victim of a grotesque miscarriage of justice.
This books attempts to rectify these injustices and to recount the true story of the cause celebre.
This books attempts to rectify these injustices and to recount the true story of the cause celebre.
