The Sewing Girl's Tale

A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America

By: John Wood Sweet

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

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

Excellent

An excellent immersive history of a young woman’s rape, it’s aftermath and consequences in 1793 New York City.

victorian true crime

great researched work on a victorian rape, and how the social norms of the time influenced the outcome and so much more.

Historical account

A great historical account of the rape of a young girl and the legal pathways that were pursued.
Very thoroughly researched.

Excellent

the reviews about this being inaccessible are unfair. it is written plainly and gives great insights into both the legal imagination and process of the period and into general gender issues of the period. well worth the time

wonderful book of history

This is an amazing book. It brings the reader quite effectively back into the lives of middling people in 1790s NYC, and with the slightest of documentary evidence (at least in parts of the narrative) weaves a very believable narrative about a rape, legal processes, class distinctions, and personal lives. Highly recommended.

Broadly Informative

More than just the story of a grievously wronged young woman. There is much revealed about class struggle in the young American republic. The less savory side of Alexander Hamilton is documented. But then the all too frequent failings of many are given a balanced treatment. Highly recommended.

Interesting but repetitive

The story was a very interesting account of rape and what happened to this one particular young woman but I found the factual writing sometimes repetitive and boring.

Good, but not what I expected.

The marketing of this is a bit deceiving. It’s much more a history of the early American judicial system’s handling of a rape case and the repercussions to all involved. Extremely well researched and reported. It will appeal to serious historians of law and the status of women in the early America legal system.

It seems like very little has changed

A very well done exploration of revolutionary society based on a ‘she said he said’ rape case.I wonder if the elimination of hanging as punishment would have altered the findings. A highly recommend work of real history at n the historical fiction genre .excellent narration as well.

Excellent historical true-crime

An excellent book that not only manages to tell the story of the "crime and consequences" in question, but in painting a picture of life New York City at the end of the 18th century.