Fred & Edie: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing
Review: An artfully-written novel of what a British reviewer called a modern Madame Bovary, "Fred & Edie" is a compelling look at a crime that captivated England in the 1920s. As much a portrait of a changing era as a crime story, it is less about love than about dreams of love versus the harsh reality of a cruel, boorish husband. While at first Edith Thompson seems the "vain, silly" woman others thought her, the author beautifully develops and shows us her depth and longing until we are both transported and moved by her plight. Many images will linger long after the reader is finished.

Rating:
Summary: A great true, historical novel?
Review: I really enjoyed reading this true crime novel by Jill Dawson. I'm not normally into true crime, but this one was written so much like a novel that you almost forget that it isn't fiction. Plus the historical London setting always puts a nice, atmospheric spin on everything. I highly recommend this book.

Fred & Edie tells the true story of a man, Percy Thompson, who is killed after walking home from the theatre with his wife, Edie. Shortly thereafter, Edie and her lover, Fred Bywaters, are arrested for his murder. Most of the novel is made up of letters from Edie to Fred, written from her jail cell during the trial. However, the flashbacks of how Edie met Fred, as well as her tumultuous marriage to Percy, are what make this novel more than just a newspaper headline.

For fans of historical fiction, true crime, stories about scandalous affairs, and lovers of all things British - this novel is for you! It took a bit to get used to the letters/newsclipping writing style, but once it got rolling, I didn't want to put it down. I can't wait for what's next from a new favorite author, Jill Dawson.

Rating:
Summary: A great true, historical novel¿
Review: I really enjoyed reading this true crime novel by Jill Dawson. I'm not normally into true crime, but this one was written so much like a novel that you almost forget that it isn't fiction. Plus the historical London setting always puts a nice, atmospheric spin on everything. I highly recommend this book.

Fred & Edie tells the true story of a man, Percy Thompson, who is killed after walking home from the theatre with his wife, Edie. Shortly thereafter, Edie and her lover, Fred Bywaters, are arrested for his murder. Most of the novel is made up of letters from Edie to Fred, written from her jail cell during the trial. However, the flashbacks of how Edie met Fred, as well as her tumultuous marriage to Percy, are what make this novel more than just a newspaper headline.

For fans of historical fiction, true crime, stories about scandalous affairs, and lovers of all things British - this novel is for you! It took a bit to get used to the letters/newsclipping writing style, but once it got rolling, I didn't want to put it down. I can't wait for what's next from a new favorite author, Jill Dawson.

Rating:
Summary: When loving is a crime.
Review: This book is rather slow in the beginning, but worth it when one finally gets into it.

As a reader of modern times one cannot help but to compare today's standards to those of 80 years ago. Edie's husband is quite cruel to her. Whereas today there are so many ways for a woman to get out of a marriage like that, in those days, she was trapped. Even her family seems to turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to her husband's shortcomings, seeing only that she is a married woman, and therefore 'secure.'

The reader sees Edie become mature and insightful as the book moves along. In my opinion, however, there is not enough said about Fred, the reader never feels as though they 'know' him.

This story is haunting in the fact that it is true. One almost feels Edie's helplessness and hopelessness as she writes letters to Fred from prison, letters she knows he will never see. In todays American courts the appeals would have gone on for years and years.