Includes bibliographical references (pages 287-347) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
Prologue -- Rescue -- Mother Carey -- Daylight -- The rake -- The pilot -- Gatekeepers -- The Prosecutrix -- Closing arguments -- Outrage -- Seduction -- Recovery -- Epilogue.
Summary, etc.:
Summer, 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 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. Sweet takes us from a chance encounter in the street, and 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. - adapted from jacket