The Walnut Tree: Women, Violence and the Law A Hidden History

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A Waterstones Best History Book 2024
'Compulsively readable' Times Literary Supplement

'An outstanding work' Philippa Gregory

'A powerful narrative told with frankness and sensitivity' Helen Fry, historian and author of Women In Intelligence
'A woman, a dog and a walnut tree, the more they are beaten, the better theyll be.'

So went the proverb quoted by a prominent MP in the Houses of Parliament in 1853. His words intended ironically in a debate about a rise in attacks on women summed up the prevailing attitude of the day, in which violence against women was waved away as a part and parcel of modern living a chilling seam of misogyny that had polluted both parliament and the law. But were things about to change

In this vivid and essential work of historical non-fiction, Kate Morgan explores the legal campaigns, test cases and individual injustices of the Victorian and Edwardian eras which fundamentally re-shaped the status of women under British law. These are seen through the untold stories of women whose cases became cornerstones of our modern legal system and shine a light on the historical inequalities of the law.

We hear of the uniquely abusive marriage which culminated in the dramatic story of the Clitheroe wife abduction; of the domestic tragedies which changed the law on domestic violence; the controversies surrounding the Contagious Diseases Act and the women who campaigned to abolish it; and the real courtroom stories behind notorious murder cases such as the Camden Town Murder.

Exploring the 19th- and early 20th Century legal history that influenced the modern-day stances on issues such as domestic abuse, sexual violence and divorce, The Walnut Treelifts the lid on the shocking history of women under British law and what it means for women today.

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Throughout this fine and eminently, even compulsively readable book, Morgan explores the greatest of all legal fictions: that the law applies equally to all The Walnut Tree is a fascinating historical excursion and a powerful demand for change, moving seamlessly from history to current events, and back, to show not only that the past is not a foreign country, but that most of the time it is not even past. Judith Flanders, Times Literary Supplement

Author Bio

Kate Morgan qualified as a solicitor in 2008. She worked as a senior in-house lawyer in the water industry for a number of years and is currently a Company Secretary. Kate has also written for legal publications including the Commercial Litigation Journal and is a contributor to Slightly Foxed, a quarterly literary magazine. Murder: The Biography is her first book.