Prima Facie was a compelling read that I couldn't put down!I appreciated the look at the criminal justice system from multiple angles and how it can harm.

Tessa Ensler is an outsider to the criminal system, but is working her way up the ladder through her intelligent defenses of her clients. But her coworkers notice how often she wins cases for her clients who are accused of rape and sexual assault. Tessa views herself as just a part of the legal system, doing no more than playing her role in the process. However, after a long night where she is raped by her coworker, her view of the legal system and her role in it changes forever.

Prima Facie is a complex, intense look at the role the criminal-legal system plays in sexual assault and rape cases and its failures towards the women it is supposed to protect. Suzie Miller is able to expand on the character of Tessa Ensler from her widely acclaimed play. Flashbacks in the first half of the novel detail Tessa's past and challenges in her upbringing that shaped the barrister she would become. The courtroom sections of the novel are well constructed and easy to read, even if the content itself is disheartening. Some of the early half of the novel does drag somewhat, but it does a good job of detailing what the work of a barrister is and the people who surround Tessa in order to make the changes in Tessa's world more apparent in the second half. Miller details how every step of the process challenges victims of sexual violence and makes the choice to testify the final hard decision after years of re-traumatization. Multiple portions of the book are challenging to read, this is a book about rape and trying to use the legal system to remedy it. But I found the book a rewarding story of how the law's requirement for neat and clean evidence can fail victims of sexual violence.

whewwwwwww
this was really strong and I think it made its points very well. It was fun knowing that this was adapted from a play—I could almost see that in Suzie Miller's writing style (although I do think she translated it to a novel very well)
It also does a great job of building suspense. Knowing what was going to happen, I found myself cataloging all the things that could be eventually used against her... which just shows how women (even those who aren't lawyers) become trained to think and view the world.
The ending felt a little bit abrupt to me, though. I wanted just a little bit more time with the aftermath.

I didn't realize this is a novelization of a play that I saw with Jodie Comer. Comer was brilliant and the material was far more effective as a play, and perhaps that had to do with the writing. Playwriting and novel writing are quite different, and the lack of layers here, the lack of subtlety, was an issue for me. Still, a compelling story.


Thanks to Henry Holt & Company and Netgalley for the ARC.

First published in the UK in 2023; published by Henry Holt and Co. on January 30, 2024

The marketing of Prima Facie gives the impression that it is a legal thriller, but the impression is false. This is an agenda-driven novel. I have no quarrel with the agenda and I have no problem with using a novel to make a point if the writer honors the elements of successful fiction. Disguising an essay as a novel usually results in an uninteresting novel. That’s certainly true here.

Tessa Ensler is a barrister who is extraordinarily pleased with her cross-examination skills. Unfortunately, Suzie Miller writes courtroom scenes in the abstract. She rarely treats the reader to actual cross-examinations, opting to have Tessa boast of her technique without revealing the questions she is asking. Miller makes no effort to deliver the suspense that good cross-examination scenes generate.

Instead of following the traditional path of a courtroom thriller, the book focuses on Tessa’s personal experience as a crime victim and the impact of crime on her life and career. It’s fine that Miller didn’t write a legal thriller. She can write any book she wants. Unfortunately, the book she wrote isn’t interesting.

The novel is written in two parts. Both halves travel between the past and present. In the first half, the past focuses on the circumstances of Tessa’s acceptance into a prestigious law school. It’s a typical story of a working-class girl transitioning into a life where her contemporaries are posh. In the present, Tessa is pleased with herself because she regards herself as a masterful barrister. She enjoys flirting with posh Julian and enjoys even more his admiring comments. Before the first third of the novel has gone by, Tessa is feeling even better about herself because she shagged Julian on the couch in his office. When she actually goes on a date with Julian, however, they have wonderful drunken sex, Tessa wakes up and vomits, Julian wakes up and wants round two, and when Tessa declines he rapes her.

In the novel’s second half, the past focuses on Tessa’s report of her rape to the police and the present begins with her testimony in Julian's criminal trial. The then-and-now format slows the pace of a story in which only the now is interesting. I kept wanting Tessa to get on with the trial, but her trial narrative is constantly interrupted by flashbacks that the reader will recognize from countless similar stories. Tessa sees Julian at work, Julian seems perfectly normal and acts as if their encounter was insignificant, the police interview Julian and Tessa’s life at work becomes unbearable. Why frequent interruptions of the trial were necessary to flesh out the recent past is unclear to me. I’d chalk it up to deciding upon a trendy literary technique that wasn’t well executed, rather than sticking to a linear story. If the intent was to build suspense by delaying trial scenes, the technique instead caused all suspense to evaporate.

When Miller finally has Tessa on the witness stand, Tessa spends most of her time explaining her thoughts between questions. She has so many thoughts the jury must have wondered why it took her so long to answer. When she finally answers, almost always with a fluster, the answer is followed by an internal monologue questioning why she didn’t give a better answer. I understand that trial witnesses second-guess themselves, but all the fretting about answers — and I mean every answer, even those she has rehearsed with the prosecuting barrister —destroys the flow of direct and cross-examination that might have made the trial interesting. We are treated instead to an insecure witness who forgets her training as a barrister and seems incapable of clear thought.

Now, I get it. Miller wanted to bring home the trauma of testifying in a trial after being victimized. The reader can understand that trauma without having Tessa constantly telling us how traumatized she feels. To this reader’s dismay, Miller disregards the rule that advises writers to show, not tell.

Prima Facie is a well-intentioned but somewhat misleading indictment of the failure to secure more sexual assault convictions in England. A prosecutor repeatedly tells Tessa that the conviction rate in sexual assaults is very low. Dig into the statistics, and you’ll learn that the conviction rate of reported rapes is low because (for whatever reason) the complaining witness decides not to pursue the case before it goes to trial. Tessa wants her case to go to trial, so the overall conviction rate doesn’t apply to her case. She claims the conviction rate of cases that go to trial is 1.3%, but that’s just not true. The unsourced statistic pops up in the press, but it is an estimate of the percentage of rapes (not just those that go to trial or even those that are reported) that end with convictions. When charges go to trial in England, the conviction rate is somewhere around 75%, only a bit less than the 81% conviction rate for all crimes. Again, I have no quarrel with pursuing an agenda — it’s quite likely that the British system of justice does not serve rape victims well — but a writer who pursues an agenda loses credibility when she makes her point with inaccurate assertions of fact.

Tessa tells us about the psychological impact that the rape had on her, but again does more telling than showing. Miller makes the same error when Tessa describes a painful sexual assault exam as well as interviews with the police that (she tells us) leave Tessa feeling humiliated. The scenes feel like more like textbook accounts of rape and its aftermath as they are presented in social work literature, not as the first-person experience of a rape victim. I had the same impression when Tessa describes a failed rape attempt during her teen years. The narrative wants to make a point about feelings of powerlessness and shame experienced by rape victims, but Miller doesn't make the reader feel Tessa's pain.

When Tessa makes her complaint to the police, she suddenly feels it is unfair that the prosecution must prove the truth of her accusation while Julian is presumed innocent. I understand that becoming a victim might spark a change of perspective, but I have difficulty believing that a trained and experienced barrister would suddenly forget why all the rights she devoted her career to protecting are important. The story made me wonder whether Tessa was ever serious about her job or just enjoyed the glory of winning. Julian is repulsive, but he at least is unlikable from the start. When Tessa gives a self-righteous speech in court about feeling betrayed by the justice system she devoted her life to, I could only wonder why she forgot the reasons she devoted her life to giving exactly the same defense to her clients that Julian’s barrister gives to Julian. While she berates herself for doing “awful things to women” in her own cross-examinations (what we see of them is far from awful), the truth is that cross-examination is usually the most important protection that defendants have against false accusations. Cross-examination is not an “awful” feature of the criminal justice system even if the experience can be unpleasant or traumatic. It is the cost of assuring (not always successfully) that innocent defendants are not convicted.

In the end, by telling a one-sided agenda-driven story, Prima Facie is more a lecture than a convincing novel. Tessa is the only character who has a personality. The plot is entirely predictable because it is driven by the need to teach predictable lessons. Maybe people who are driven by the same agenda will appreciate Prima Facie but judging the novel solely by the standards of literature, Prima Facie does too little to earn a recommendation.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Very powerful read. Sure, it gets pretty soap-boxy, but it’s an important soap-box, so I was okay with it.

As a criminal defense attorney myself including for some of the most egregious crimes against the person like what was depicted in the book, I was soooo interested in this title from the moment I saw it was being released and would have done just about anything to get my hands on a physical ARC!!! Didn’t happen, but so appreciative to Henry Holt, the author, and NetGalley for the e-galley!

⚠️CW: rape/sexual assault. This is a VERY heavy and emotional read, save for when you are in the right mindset.

A raw, heartbreaking, unforgettable and very accurate portrait of what it means to be a sexually assaulted woman (or anyone for that matter) with what seems to be the legal system, the law, and the world against you fighting for justice.

What I enjoyed the most about this book was the very real descriptions about how someone feels and behaves during and after assaults. This is why frequently psychologists/psychiatrists are part of these types of trials to discuss trauma responses (in other words “counterintuitive victim behaviors”) because in those situations, victims are not perfect, have bad memories or block things out, and do things we (people who have not been assaulted) see as counterintuitive. This book is also totally right about the trial aspect. Victims are not going to be perfect and clear witnesses at trial either as we naturally expect, especially given how long it takes these cases to actually make it there and the involvement of alcohol. And unfortunately that is all seen as weakness in their case.

I hope this book reaches a lot of audiences and rewrites what they believe about this topic.

The way the legal system was described was pretty much accurate in my opinion which gave it so much for credibility with me. As a lawyer myself, I can’t stand inaccurate representations, even for dramatic effect and entertainment. There are some differences in America than the UK and the sexual assault convictions are greater and taken more seriously, especially in the military. I have lots of thoughts on this topic and the #metoo movement given my position in the justice system, but I’ll just say that I’ve personally defended people where it’s clear the alleged victims were lying about being assaulted for one reason or another, which is a cause that makes it more difficult for real victims.

This book was special, special in structure since it was originally written to be performed on stage as a monologue. Special because it deeply questions a system that our legal system that we consider modern - post enlightenment - is based on - the combination of innocent until proven guilty and the fact that the state needs to prove that a crime has been committed and that the accused does not need to take the stand or incriminate themselves. Suzie Miller brilliantly highlights how this means that in sexual assault cases or rape cases especially if they hinge on the consent question any burden to be believable and convincing falls to the traumatized victim - also meaning that the victim will be questioned, her memories probed and her story scrutinized whereas the alleged perpetrator may keep quiet.
Tessa Enssler the protagonist in this story knows all this going in. She is a criminal defense barrister at the courts in London but she also firmly believes in the law being fair and just and she knows what happened to her.
This book asks questions that have no easy answers and will have me thinking for a long time. I highly recommend reading this book or watching it as a play.
We've come so far since the legal system described in „Frozen River" but maybe there are adjustments that could still be made.

When I saw the brilliant Jodie Comer perform the role of Tessa in the play of 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘦 on Broadway, I was completely blown away. And now the playwright Suzie Miller has also written a novel based on the unforgettable play. An important and very compelling story, the novelization is just as good as the play.

Tessa is a brilliant barrister who specializes in criminal law. She always seems to find a crack in the prosecution’s case against her clients, and is becoming well known for always winning her cases. She begins to specialize in sexual assault cases, and she never asks her clients whether or not they are guilty.

This tightly-written and fast paced novel examines the legal process and switches its focus once Tessa becomes the victim of rape. We all know that the statistics on sexual assault are devastating no matter what country you live in. Ms. Miller, a former lawyer, takes the reader through the criminal law process with a particular focus on the barrister’s point of view. The author doesn’t shy away from difficult subject matter and also shows how female barristers still face both subtle and blatant sexual harassment to this day. Highly recommend this important and vital story.

“ ‘𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩. 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 “𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬” 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘸.’”

This is a fascinating look at Tessa, a young barrister who loves being a defense attorney but is then on trial herself in a rape case. Told in a "now" and "then" narrative, the novel details her courtroom savvy as well as her own doubts about the law when she herself is called to the witness stand. It's a mesmerizing tale that will have you gasping for breath as we see her family, friends, and colleagues jockey for position in their attempts to help or hinder her. This is a #MeToo book for the ages, as we witness both the prosecution and the defense mount their cases and eagerly await the verdict!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Prima Facie is about a barrister in London embarking on her early career in law. Tessa is several years into her career and thriving. She is incredibly bright and astute and utilizes it in the courtroom. She views the law in a very black and white, compartmentalized way. She's there to prove the facts, not make judgements on innocence or guilt. Her perspective changes when she suffers an assault and starts to question her previous thoughts about the justice system and cases she has represented.

A large part of the novel is about her upbringing, in a working class family in Liverpool and straddling a new, posh world of law. She attended school at Cambridge and has often felt out of her depth. Though Tessa could compete academically with her privileged classmates, she didn't understand their world. I found these parts at the beginning a bit repetitive, but the author does a good job illustrating Tessa's experiences.

Though it started a little slow for me, the second half of the book blew me away. Tessa decides to pursue charges against the man who assaulted her and we see the full repercussions of that. The depictions of the court scenes were so riveting and emotional. I loved Tessa's bravery throughout and how the story ended. It makes such salient points about how survivors are treated in the justice system. Though it's set in England, it rings pretty closely to the US justice system.

I listened to the audiobook which was perfectly narrated by actress Jodie Comer. She does such a phenomenal job, especially at the end during more emotional parts.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing this ebook/audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

When I learned that the script of Suzie Miller's play, "Prima Facie," for which Jodie Comer won the 2023 Tony Award, was being released as a novel, I knew I wanted to get my hands on it. And if the one-woman play is even half as arresting, timely, and heartwrenching as this novel version is, it is easy to see why Comer was awarded one of Broadway's top prizes. Tessa Ensler is a relatable, excellently-drawn character whose experience is unfortunately the experience of so many women in the world throughout history, and the immediacy of the novel's structure, which bounces back and forth between "then" (the time period in which Tessa is raped by a coworker) and "now" (the time period of the trial), never lets the reader out of the story once it's begun. At turns heartbreaking, at others horrifying, at still others infuriating - and sometimes all three at once - it is a master class of a novel, as well as a scathing indictment of a justice system still so terribly inadequate when it comes to handling matters of sexual assault and believing women, and I will absolutely be diving into Miller's back catalogue of scripts.

This book was very unique story because it is a book that is based on a play.. The subject matter is dark and conveyed in a powerful and impactful way. However, the writing felt tedious at times and I feel like some of the heart was lost when this was translated from a play to a book. The writing was direct, a bit clinical, and drawn out at times making it hard to connect with. Some parts felt like long monologues and I found my mind drifting during them. Overall, this was a very unique way to make a play more accessible but there was something lost a bit in the translation making the story difficult to connect with.

This one was stellar. I wanted to see Prima Facie when it played on Broadway, but was unable to get tickets, so I was so excited to not only see that it was being adapted into a novel, but that I got approved for an advanced read.

While the subject matter is certainly tough (TW: sexual assault, rape), the portrayal of it is incredibly authentic and real - and that’s important to call out.

Well-written and well-executed, I’m excited to see what the author has in store next after the success of the play, and hopefully this book/audiobook.

Thanks to Henry Holt Books for the ARC.

A powerful, confronting story told in the language and environment of 2024. It's not pretty - but rape, sexual assault and the male dominated, prejudiced legal process women have to navigate isn't pretty and this book which is an expanded version of the highly acclaimed play tells it the way it is. What do you do when you’re a lawyer and then are on the other side of the table as the victim for cases that you normally try in court. Men and women of all ages should read this.

As a survivor of Sexual Assault myself this book really resonated - the system is so male driven women have such little hope and its not wonder so many rape victims don’t report it.

“Prima Facie” by Suzie Miller is a work of fiction that explores what the obstacles are that can prevent a woman from winning a rape case when it’s her word against his. In a man’s world, the obstacles can come from the circumstances surrounding the rape, the perceived promiscuity of the victim, or her desire for personal gain.

So, what constitutes a win for a criminal defense barrister in a rape case when she is a victim?

Through her journey, Tessa Ensler begins to find the answer to this question as she discovers the complicated layers of what success can mean.

Tessa Ensler is a criminal defense barrister. She’s worked hard to earn her place at the bar, and even though she often has to defend distasteful characters, she knows it’s all part of her job to give them a voice in the justice system. But after Tessa is date-raped by a coworker, she finds the system looks much different from the victim’s perspective.

Prima Facie is an extremely powerful story. Based on the author’s award-winning one-woman play, the direct and dramatic writing style is reminiscent of a screenplay. The crisp and raw narrative packs a punch, evoking many complicated emotions in the reader. Tessa’s character arc is masterfully written as she discovers how the criminal justice system denigrates and revictimizes sexual assault survivors. Although an emotionally difficult read at times, the message is a critically important one and I highly recommend this profound story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for providing me an advance copy of this book.

This was really good. I saw Karin Slaughter like this book, so I figured I needed to like this book - and she was right! Check your trigger warnings obviously - but it’s not super graphic. And the ending, it’s perfection. Makes me want to go kick down some doors and make shit happen - bam pow!

Tessa loves her job as one of the top criminal defense barristers. She believes in the law, but not the police. She secures win after win due to her quick witted cross examinations.

When she’s raped by a coworker, she struggles to find the strength in the justice system. While she’s determined to have her day in court, she knows that she faces an uphill battle because the law isn’t written for victims. When she’s on trial, she fights on, even when the evidence is manipulated to make her look like a liar, she pushes through.

This is not a happy story, but it is a good story, and one worth reading. This book is a Olivier and Tony award winning play that has been reformatted into a book. I do think that there is a little bit translation issue, and some nuances are lost, but the story is still beautiful and compelling. The story starts slow, but it is building for what happens in the second half of the book, setting the stage if you will. Then once the groundwork was there, bam the story took off and things moved at lightning pace. To say this book was an emotional roller coaster would be an understatement. I loved the main character and really felt for her, she had such a heartbreaking yet eye opening experience. I can’t really say much about how the second half of the book without giving spoilers. I will say that the second half was well done, and it summed the story up nicely.

I would really enjoy watching the play that this book was adapted from, I bet it is amazing.

Please be aware that this book focuses on rape, and how the legal system treats those who have had this horrible crime committed against them. It isn’t pretty, and the book doesn’t pull punches in that regard.

Thank you so much to Henry Holt Books @henryholtbooks for sending me a copy of this book, I appreciate it. All opinions are my own.

This book was pretty slow going in the beginning, so I was worried I wouldn’t like it. However I ended up really liking it but still think the beginning could’ve been chiseled down a bit but once it gets going you’ll feel just as enraged as Tessa.

I thought this was really good at explaining the roller coaster of emotions and swirling thoughts / confusion that come with a sexual assault. Especially in the position Tessa held as a barrister who typically defended rapists.

I thought it was really well done. I really liked when Tessa found her voice towards the end of her testimony. It was empowering.

One thing I learned was that lawyers in other countries wear wigs and robes. I had no idea.