Boon's Bookcase

 A Fatal Love

by

Louisa Treger

Following Ruth Ellis' long-awaited posthumous conditional pardon in July 2026, never has there been a more compelling moment to revisit the woman behind one of Britain's most enduring legal cases.

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?

REVIEW

We all know the story of Ruth Ellis, who was the last woman to be hanged in Britain in the 50s, but this story goes beyond the sentencing and gives an insight into how Ruth felt towards her lover David Blakely and how this affected her children, her family and also herself. 

Ruth is separated from her husband George Ellis and she is a hostess in a club in London when she meets David Blakely. They instantly have a connection to one another, but Ruth falls hard for David who is a wannabe racing driver, but without the financial means to pursue his career. He doesn't seem to want to introduce Ruth to his family and often asks Ruth for money when his "allowance" from his parents has run out. 

David is physically and emotionally abusive to Ruth and his coercive behaviour worries a lot of her friends, especially Desmond Cussen, who was Ruth's on off lover who was very kind to her and helped her out with her son Andy, but Ruth just played him along with David, which infuriated him and caused her a lot of pain.

When Ruth is arrested for shooting David at point blank range, she is adamant she doesn't want to be vindicated for her actions and that she deserves whatever punishment she is given, but her Lawyer and his assistant (Kitty) think otherwise and desperately try to get her to change her plea.

This is such a sad story because of the way Ruth was treated up to the killing by David, but really men in general. She was abused, coerced and her mental health and emotional state would certainly have been questioned in a court of law today. 

This was a fabulous read and I read it in only a few days. One of my books of the year and would thoroughly recommend.