The Trial of Lady Chatterley's LoverSybille Bedford2016

When Penguin released a new, unexpurgated edition of D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover in 1960, they were charged with the crime of publishing obscene material and made to defend the book’s literary merit in court. Thus began one of the most famous trials of the 20th century.

There to take it all in was Sybille Bedford. With her trademark wit and flair, she presents us with a play-by-play of the trial: from the prosecution’s questioning of the novel’s thirteen ‘unvarying’ sex scenes and 66 swear words, to the dozens of witnesses who testified – including the Bishop of Woolwich and E. M. Forster.

Bedford gives us a timeless and dramatic account that captures one of the most fascinating and absurd moments in both legal and publishing history, when attitudes and morals shifted forever.