"This is my world -- archaic, anachronistic, privileged, exclusive..."
"But hang around any court for a while and you will see just how precarious life can be. How your world can come tumbling down all too rapidly if you make the wrong call. If, just for one, fatal split second, you behave unlawfully."
James and Sophie Whitehouse are the elite. Happily married with two children and him with a prestigious government post -- he's even best friends with the PM. But when he is accused of the crime of rape, their world teeters. The trial is a "he said, she said" with a fierce prosecutor bent on conviction. What lies behind the QC's fervor? Life will never be the same for any involved.
OK, well, this was not my cup of tea as the British might say. I am a fan of courtroom drama, but perhaps it's the domestic trauma and all the secrets and lies that I can't wrap my head around. I prefer action to inner dialogue and angst. I really didn't care for any of the characters nor could I drum up the empathy necessary to understand their motivations. I thought it predictable and tiresome with the underlying theme that the powerful politicians hold incredible sway with their charisma and position. Yes -- rape is an awful crime and it should be punished. I think the issue herein, however, was the fact that the women did not make a stand when they needed to and that left scars and repressed emotions. No woman should be raped and men who do so should be punished. No excuses. Report. The fact is, however, that sometimes the cases get muddied. The prosecutor in this case was out of line. The woman having the affair with James was out of line (but should not have been raped) and the wife with her blinders did not know the man she had married.
I see a lot of 5 star reviews for this novel and it certainly could be written based on the current headlines. The problem is that men won't be reading this one (I could be wrong) and many will continue blithely along their selfish narcissistic ways just taking what they want if they have any power at all. Unfortunately there was nothing new in this novel unless you want to read about the privledged upper class in England and their lifestyles.
James and Sophie Whitehouse are the elite. Happily married with two children and him with a prestigious government post -- he's even best friends with the PM. But when he is accused of the crime of rape, their world teeters. The trial is a "he said, she said" with a fierce prosecutor bent on conviction. What lies behind the QC's fervor? Life will never be the same for any involved.
OK, well, this was not my cup of tea as the British might say. I am a fan of courtroom drama, but perhaps it's the domestic trauma and all the secrets and lies that I can't wrap my head around. I prefer action to inner dialogue and angst. I really didn't care for any of the characters nor could I drum up the empathy necessary to understand their motivations. I thought it predictable and tiresome with the underlying theme that the powerful politicians hold incredible sway with their charisma and position. Yes -- rape is an awful crime and it should be punished. I think the issue herein, however, was the fact that the women did not make a stand when they needed to and that left scars and repressed emotions. No woman should be raped and men who do so should be punished. No excuses. Report. The fact is, however, that sometimes the cases get muddied. The prosecutor in this case was out of line. The woman having the affair with James was out of line (but should not have been raped) and the wife with her blinders did not know the man she had married.
I see a lot of 5 star reviews for this novel and it certainly could be written based on the current headlines. The problem is that men won't be reading this one (I could be wrong) and many will continue blithely along their selfish narcissistic ways just taking what they want if they have any power at all. Unfortunately there was nothing new in this novel unless you want to read about the privledged upper class in England and their lifestyles.