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  • The Sewing Girl's Tale

  • A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America
  • By: John Wood Sweet
  • Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
  • Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)
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The Sewing Girl's Tale

By: John Wood Sweet
Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
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Summary

New York Times Editors’ Choice
Winner of the Bancroft Prize
Winner of the New York Society Library's New York City Book Award

A riveting Revolutionary Era drama of the first published rape trial in American history and its long, shattering aftermath, revealing how much has changed over two centuries—and how much has not

On a moonless night in the summer of 1793 a crime was committed in the back room of a New York brothel—the kind of crime that even victims usually kept secret. Instead, seventeen-year-old seamstress Lanah Sawyer did what virtually no one in US history had done before: she charged a gentleman with rape.

Her accusation sparked a raw courtroom drama and a relentless struggle for vindication that threatened both Lanah’s and her assailant’s lives. The trial exposed a predatory sexual underworld, sparked riots in the streets, and ignited a vigorous debate about class privilege and sexual double standards. The ongoing conflict attracted the nation’s top lawyers, including Alexander Hamilton, and shaped the development of American law. The crime and its consequences became a kind of parable about the power of seduction and the limits of justice. Eventually, Lanah Sawyer did succeed in holding her assailant accountable—but at a terrible cost to herself.

Based on rigorous historical detective work, this book takes us from a chance encounter in the street into the sanctuaries of the city’s elite, the shadows of its brothels, and the despair of its debtors’ prison. The Sewing Girl's Tale shows that if our laws and our culture were changed by a persistent young woman and the power of words two hundred years ago, they can be changed again.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Co.

©2022 John Sweet (P)2022 Macmillan Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about The Sewing Girl's Tale

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    4 out of 5 stars

Hard to keep interest up!

Drifted on a number of occasions to areas outwith the main story. Could have been about 2-3 hours shorter if this hadn't been the case.
Narrator had a good voice but grating at times when it changed for no reason - like nails down a chalkboard to me!

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