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

by Kate Morgan

A devastating work of non-fiction that reveals a hidden history of women, violence and the law.




' A woman, a dog and a walnut tree, the more they are beaten, the better they'll 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.

320 pages.

ISBN: 9780008559588

€ 18.75 

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Date of Publication: 29/02/2024

  
Cover of The Walnut Tree: Women, Violence and the Law - A Hidden History - Kate Morgan - 9780008559588Trade Paperback

The Walnut Tree: Women, Violence and the Law - A Hidden History also appears in these Categories:

Law