{"product_id":"the-walnut-tree-kate-morgan-9780008559618","title":"The Walnut Tree","description":"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 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.","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49896618426656,"sku":"9780008559618","price":9.34,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0753\/2812\/7264\/files\/9780008559618.jpg?v=1780789948","url":"https:\/\/bookcorner.com\/products\/the-walnut-tree-kate-morgan-9780008559618","provider":"The Book Corner","version":"1.0","type":"link"}