[Review] THE TRIAL OF LOTTA RAE — Feminine Rage #1
"it feels now as if any man is free to do to me whatever he likes."
This spoiler-free review is the first in a two-part series on ‘Female Rage’. I’ve split up the review and my in-depth thoughts in the genuine hope that you will check out this profoundly beautiful and emotionally-charged novel for yourself.
In her debut novel, Siobhan MacGowan transports readers to 1906, Edwardian London. Lotta Rae, a 15-year-old girl, is raped by a man of high social standing. She bravely decides to take her rapist to court, but the tragic aftermath is devastating. Worse, Lotta discovers she has been betrayed, not just by the system, but by someone she had deemed her protector and friend.
Skip forward 12 years later — Lotta has grown bigger, badder, and fiercer. And she is back for revenge.
The Trial of Lotta Rae, published just May last year (practically an infant!), caught my eye during one late-night scroll down my Scribd recommendations. I’m usually hesitant about hot-off-the-printer books, but in the end, my penchant for historical fiction won over. AND I HAVE NO RAGRETS.
When I say this novel altered my brain chemistry, I don’t mean in it the same way The Song of Achilles, The Sorrows of Young Werther, or All Quiet on the Western Front did. I mean: This book wowed, dazzled, ELECTRIFIED me — it pinged all the receptors in my brain like a frickin’ pinball machine.
❛If you had truly wanted him to stop, why not hit or push him away?❜
MacGowan’s storytelling is like getting punched in the face… in the best possible way. Firstly, the pacing was brilliant. Despite spanning over a decade, the novel never loses momentum. With the cadence of a court testimonial, we begin from the fateful Halloween night in 1906, before accompanying Lotta through the trial and the subsequent trainwreck of events.
The visceral horror and emotion of the situation unfolding before your eyes will have you tearing at your hair in frustration — until you remember that the injustice was (and still is) the sickening reality for many women all around the world. Because Lotta Rae isn’t a story about women’s truth, but how that truth is perceived (and consequentially warped) in a system designed to keep them acquiescent and benign.
That said, MacGowan doesn’t force her female characters through tribulation to prove a point. Instead, to tell this convincing and emotionally-charged story, she taps into the rich history of women’s rights in the UK, as well as her deep and innate understanding of the unique hurdles women have to overcome in a male-dominated society.
❛It’s those blinded with faith who wreak the most carnage.❜
Another win in my books is that Lotta does not have Main Character Syndrome. Her growth isn’t linear, and she constantly fades in and out of moral clarity. The indelible rage she feels towards her situation and perpetrators is quiet but never quelled, simmering dangerously beneath the skin of the story. Much of it is unknown to the other characters, of course, and the fact that we’re the only ones privy to it makes for a real tension-infused treat.
We’re also shown the flipside of Lotta’s experience through the eyes of William, her lawyer. His perspective really serves to spotlight the chasm between the male and female experience in late Edwardian London, which was further complicated by the ongoing class struggle.
To convey this dichotomy accurately and comprehensively would require nearly faultless writing and execution. And for a debut novel, I dare say Lotta Rae is pretty faultless in that regard. Sure, MacGowan’s unconventional rearrangement of sentence clauses may take some getting used to at first, but it seasons the pretty, lavender prose with a distinct, old-timey feel. If you can read Sally Rooney’s lack of quotation marks easily, you won’t have any trouble with Lotta Rae’s topsy-turvey style.
❛The desolation was absolute.❜
In the end, whether Lotta truly overcomes the masculine forces around her is questionable. However, her experience, though fictional, calls for some consideration on just how much progress we’ve really achieved in gender equality, on both societal and political fronts.
The juxtaposition (or lack thereof) of social conditions a centennial ago and now is a poignant reminder that the war for women’s rights still rages on, whether it be on the news or those seemingly infinitesimal moments confined within our private daily interactions.
On reflection, the mountainous effort it will take to neutralise these patriarchal systems and by whom exactly must this endeavour be sustained may sicken and discourage you. Or it may sicken and empower you.
I guess it’s up to us which.
In my next issue, I’ll delve deeper into the conflicts and issues presented in The Trial of Lotta Rae, so stay tuned!
AWARE Sexual Assault Care Centre (SACC) — 6779 0282 (call) / 9781 4101 (WhatsApp)
National Anti-Violence and Sexual Harassment Helpline (NAVH) — 1800-777-0000