Product Description

Evelyn is a young woman who has defied convention to become one of the country's pioneer female lawyers. Living at home with her mother, aunt, and grandmother, Evelyn is still haunted by the death of her younger brother James in the First World War. Therefore when the doorbell rings late one night and a woman appears, claiming to have mothered James's child, her world is turned upside down. Evelyn distrusts Meredith at first, but also finds that this new arrival challenges her work-obsessed lifestyle. So far her legal career has not set the world alight. But then two cases arise that make Evelyn realise perhaps she can make a difference. The first concerns woman called Leah Marchant whose children have been taken away from her simply because she is poor. The second, Stephen Wheeler - a former acquaintance of Daniel Breen, her boss - has been charged with murdering his own wife. It is clear to Breen and Evelyn that Wheeler is innocent but he won't talk. After being humiliated in court, Evelyn is approached by a dashing lawyer called Nicholas Thorne. She is needled by his privileged background and old-fashioned attitudes, but despite being engaged, he cannot seem to resist sparring with this feisty young female. In the meantime, Meredith makes an earth-shattering accusation about James. With the Wheeler case coming to a head, and her heart in limbo, Evelyn takes matters into her own hands.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37133 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

About the Author
Katharine McMahon is the author of five novels. She has taught in secondary schools, performed in local theatre and worked as a Royal Literary Fund fellow teaching writing skills at the Universities of Hertfordshire and Warwick. She lives in Hertfordshire.

Customer Reviews

A Pleasure to Read
Katherine McMahon's writing was an absolute pleasure to read, she has a way of describing details so that you really feel you're there in the room. It reminded me of R.J. Ellory's A Quiet Belief in Angels. She is a wonderful storyteller and in Evelyn Gifford she has created a compelling and feisty character, who is so quiet and respectful at home but who can speak confidently when a magistrate treats her with disdain.

I absolutely loved The Crimson Rooms and was sad when it ended, I wanted to know more of Evelyn's life, of how far she can go. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the 1920's, of women solicitors, courtroom dramas, or who just wants to get lost in a really good story.

The Crimson Rooms
This is a very intelligent and satisfying read, with a clever and complex main character. She is one of the first women lawyers in the 1920s and the story deals with the problems she faces in this male-dominated world and her efforts to represent her clients properly while trying to cope with her difficult family at home. Her life is further complicated by the fact she becomes involved with a fellow lawyer.

The various threads of the story combine in a wonderfully gripping climax. I had to stay up until 3am to finish The Crimson Rooms - and then didn't want it to end. Highly recommended.

Gripping
This was a book I wanted to finish and yet didn't want to end. The story centres on Evelyn who is one of the first woman solicitors who endures ritual humiliation at the hands of the legal establishment, but it is also a thriller with two sub-plots of a client wrongly accused of murder and a mother trying to reclaim her children from care. Add to that the aftermath of the trenches with a brother who died in action and the appearance of his lover and son, plus an ill fated love affair. The writing is masterly - rich yet economical prose - it will repay a second read.