Don't forget to book your ticket for our author talk with Louisa Treger on Thursday the 13th of September at Ware Library. Book here!
It is Easter Sunday in 1955 and a young man lies face-down on the ground covered in blood. A woman, blonde and petite, stands over him with a gun in her hand. This is the story of Ruth Ellis as never told before...
As Ruth awaits her trial in Holloway Prison, she recollects growing up in England during the Second World War and the events that led to the death of her lover, David Blakely.
Meanwhile, Kitty Carrington - the assistant to Ruth's trial lawyer - tries to forge her own path through the male-dominated legal world of the 1950s and ensure that Ruth receives a fair trial.
Navigating secrets, betrayal and a broken justice system, Ruth and Kitty try to take control of their own lives and narratives. But do we ever really know the full story?
MEDIA REVIEWS
Louisa Treger is for me a must-read author, and I believe A Fatal Love is her best novel to date. Set in the murky, pseudo-glamour of post war drinking clubs in London, this beguiling account of the betrayal of a woman cursed by her beauty and her class held me rapt from the start. Both thrilling and seductive, and yet so sensitively written … it will break many hearts. Brava! What an achievement. - Essie Fox
A Fatal Love is a mesmerising and simply unforgettable read. Days on, I can’t stop thinking about it and telling other people they simply must read it. I genuinely can’t remember the last time I found a book so compulsive. I took it as a beach read on holiday and towards the end, I was still sitting on my sun lounger as darkness fell, simultaneously turning the pages, yet dreading the end.This is a book that had to be written by Treger, for it is only an author of her calibre, capacity for empathy and forensic eye for detail, who could bring Ruth Ellis to life so skilfully and humanely. Seventy years ago, a judgemental society robbed Ruth Ellis of her dignity and her voice. Louisa Treger has restored it, in this masterful, powerful and heartwrenching novel.This is hands down my book of the year. - Kate Thompson
A powerful and compassionate novel that gives voice to one of the century's most misunderstood women and examines the abusive relationship that led her, ultimately, to kill. - Anna Mazzola
Hardback 240 pages
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN:9781037209833
Published:27 Aug 2026