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The Sewing Girl's Tale
A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America
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Check link for latest rating. ( 2,330 ratings, 431 reviews)
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Format: Paperback / softback
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The Sewing Girl's Tale
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
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Description
The Sewing Girl's Tale by John Wood Sweet is a gripping Revolutionary Era drama that delves into the first published rape trial in American history and its lasting repercussions. This illuminating narrative explores the changes — and the continuities — spanning over two centuries.
On a moonless night in the summer of 1793, a grievous crime unfolded in the back room of a New York brothel — the kind of crime typically shrouded in silence. Breaking this silence was seventeen-year-old seamstress Lanah Sawyer, who accused a gentleman of rape, an unprecedented step in US history.
Lanah's accusation ignited a fervent courtroom drama and a relentless quest for justice, endangering the lives of both herself and her assailant. The trial unveiled a predatory sexual underworld, incited street riots, and provoked a passionate debate about class privilege and sexual double standards. The unfolding conflict enlisted the nation’s foremost legal minds, including Alexander Hamilton, and played a pivotal role in shaping American law. The crime and its aftermath emerged as a parable about the allure of seduction and the boundaries of justice. While Lanah Sawyer ultimately succeeded in holding her assailant accountable, it came at a tremendous personal cost.
Crafted through meticulous historical research, this book transports readers from a chance street encounter to the sanctuaries of city elites, the shadows of brothels, and the gloom of debtors’ prisons. The Sewing Girl's Tale demonstrates that if one persistent young woman, through the power of words, could instigate legal and cultural transformation two hundred years ago, similar changes remain possible today.
This edition includes photographs to enrich the narrative.
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
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
The Sewing Girl's Tale by John Wood Sweet has received excellent reviews praising its engrossing narrative and detailed historical context. The New York Times Book Review commends it as an absorbing social and cultural history, while The Wall Street Journal extols it as a vividly intimate portrait of early American life. Experts highlight its balanced blend of true crime, courtroom drama, and social analysis, noting Sweet's ability to bring historical figures and contexts to life with impressive research and gripping storytelling.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781250871480
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 11 July 2023
Country: United States
Imprint: St Martin's Press
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 33.0mm
Width: 155.0mm
Height: 231.0mm
Weight: 468g
Pages: 384
About the Author
John Wood Sweet is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the former director of UNC's Program in Sexuality Studies. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, the National Humanities Center, the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at UNC, and the Gilder Lehrman Center at Yale, among others. His first book, Bodies Politic: Negotiating Race in the American North, 1730-1830, was a finalist for the Frederick Douglass Prize. He was named a Top Young Historian by the History News Network and has served as an Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer. He lives in Chapel Hill with his husband, son, and daughter.
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