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Title details for The Sewing Girl's Tale by John Wood Sweet - Wait list

The Sewing Girl's Tale

by John Wood Sweet
ebook
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New York Times Editors' Choice
Winner of the Bancroft Prize
Winner of the Francis Parkman Prize
Winner of the Gotham Book Prize
Winner of the New York Society Library's New York City Book Award
Journal of the American Revolution Book of the Year
Winner of the David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Legal History
Winner of the James Bradford Best Biography Prize
A riveting Revolutionary Era drama of the first published rape trial in American history and its long, shattering aftermath, revealing how much has changed over two centuries—and how much has not
On a moonless night in the summer of 1793 a crime was committed in the back room of a New York brothel—the kind of crime that even victims usually kept secret. Instead, seventeen-year-old seamstress Lanah Sawyer did what virtually no one in US history had done before: she charged a gentleman with rape.
Her accusation sparked a raw courtroom drama and a relentless struggle for vindication that threatened both Lanah's and her assailant's lives. The trial exposed a predatory sexual underworld, sparked riots in the streets, and ignited a vigorous debate about class privilege and sexual double standards. The ongoing conflict attracted the nation's top lawyers, including Alexander Hamilton, and shaped the development of American law. The crime and its consequences became a kind of parable about the power of seduction and the limits of justice. Eventually, Lanah Sawyer did succeed in holding her assailant accountable—but at a terrible cost to herself.
Based on rigorous historical detective work, this book takes us from a chance encounter in the street into the sanctuaries of the city's elite, the shadows of its brothels, and the despair of its debtors' prison. The Sewing Girl's Tale shows that if our laws and our culture were changed by a persistent young woman and the power of words two hundred years ago, they can be changed again.
Includes photographs

Expand title description text
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Kindle Book

  • Release date: July 19, 2022

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9781250761972
  • Release date: July 19, 2022

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9781250761972
  • File size: 28440 KB
  • Release date: July 19, 2022
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Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

History Law Sociology Nonfiction

Languages

English

New York Times Editors' Choice
Winner of the Bancroft Prize
Winner of the Francis Parkman Prize
Winner of the Gotham Book Prize
Winner of the New York Society Library's New York City Book Award
Journal of the American Revolution Book of the Year
Winner of the David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Legal History
Winner of the James Bradford Best Biography Prize
A riveting Revolutionary Era drama of the first published rape trial in American history and its long, shattering aftermath, revealing how much has changed over two centuries—and how much has not
On a moonless night in the summer of 1793 a crime was committed in the back room of a New York brothel—the kind of crime that even victims usually kept secret. Instead, seventeen-year-old seamstress Lanah Sawyer did what virtually no one in US history had done before: she charged a gentleman with rape.
Her accusation sparked a raw courtroom drama and a relentless struggle for vindication that threatened both Lanah's and her assailant's lives. The trial exposed a predatory sexual underworld, sparked riots in the streets, and ignited a vigorous debate about class privilege and sexual double standards. The ongoing conflict attracted the nation's top lawyers, including Alexander Hamilton, and shaped the development of American law. The crime and its consequences became a kind of parable about the power of seduction and the limits of justice. Eventually, Lanah Sawyer did succeed in holding her assailant accountable—but at a terrible cost to herself.
Based on rigorous historical detective work, this book takes us from a chance encounter in the street into the sanctuaries of the city's elite, the shadows of its brothels, and the despair of its debtors' prison. The Sewing Girl's Tale shows that if our laws and our culture were changed by a persistent young woman and the power of words two hundred years ago, they can be changed again.
Includes photographs

Expand title description text
History Law Sociology Nonfiction
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