Every woman should read this book-such a powerful account of the way women are treated by the justice system in rape cases.It’s even more disturbing when in this case the victim is a defence lawyer who takes great pride in getting her clients acquitted ,but takes a completely different view when she is put on the other side of the legal process.It left me feeling very angry,but it’s extremely well written and the main character,Tessa,has to be admired for her refusal to back down after a horrific assault by a work colleague.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review which reflects my own opinion.

Everyone should read this book. Definitely thought provoking, an inside view to how sexual assault and rape are dealt with in our society yet alone in the courts and legal system. Strong characters , massive storyline dealt with skill, compassion and common sense.

Thanks to NG for an ARC in exchange for a review.

First book by this author and I started reading having forgotten the blurb and not realising this had previously been a successful stage play. This meant I found it a little slow at first as I wasn't sure where the action was going to come from. It felt repetitive in places and I was struggling to get on board with the characters.

However, when the 'thing' happened, I was shocked, outraged and fully engrossed - so please do stick with it!! it became an authentically harrowing account of pursuing justice after the horrific experience Tessa goes through, especially given her passion and belief in justice being fair for all through her role as a barrister.

I finished this on International Women's Day which perhaps made it a bit more profound and I felt my own outrage at how women are treated through the criminal justice system. Tessa's speech towards the end is so powerful and moving.

I liked that the ending didn't tie everything up neatly but left the reader reeling with various emotions.

I can only imagine how fabulous this was as a one-women show. I hear Jodie Comer was phenomenal in this role!

Please read this book!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I cried at the end and felt angry most of the way through. Great book. Wish things were different.

Overall, I loved this. I really warmed to Tessa and her background was well written. I found some of the legal terminology difficult to understand and could have done with some of them being broken down into layman’s terms a bit. I also felt that the pacing was a little bit off with how the book was split up but overall it was a really enjoyable, if difficult at times, read and I’d recommend to my friends. I can’t compare to the theatre version as I haven’t seen it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Prima Facie” is the fictional story of Tess Ensler, told entirely from her point of view. She is a hot shot criminal defence barrister who has had to battle from a working class background to get where she is. She firmly believes in the law and even when defending people with dubious characters believes everyone has the right to a fair trial. Having said that, she enjoys nothing more than winning for her clients, and therefore for her. However, when she has a terrible experience with a colleague, she is forced to challenge her belief that the law will protect her.

Having been one of the lucky ones to see the play of “Prima Facie” while it was on in London, I was fascinated to see how it would be adapted into a book and whether it would still have the same impact. I was not disappointed. Even though I knew what was coming both in terms of events and the outcome of those events, I still felt a gut punch when they happened. I also liked that the book could go into a bit more detail about Tessa’s family, friends and back story which wasn’t required for the stage but I imagine would’ve felt missing from the book, especially for anyone who was coming to it afresh.

I would highly recommend this book (and the play if you get a chance to watch the filmed version). I see that the story is also being adapted for TV and I look forward, despite the subject matter, to seeing that version as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Phenomenal story of a young ambitious working class barrister who ruthlessly defends the most heinous of criminals. Until one day, someone attacks her… heartbreaking and authentic, we get to know Tessa and feel her pain and frustration at the unfair system she once represented. A harrowing testimony of rape.

Brilliant!
Suzie Millar has come up with a really wonderful book that highlights a very important shortcoming of the UK system that is doubtlessly the case in other countries jurisdiction s as well.
A skilled defence barrister who has built a successful career defending men in sexual assault cases becomes the victim of such an assault. She reports it to the police and ends up under a harrowing cross examination in Court at the Old Bailey. A ' biter boy's siruation.
The book really spotlights the reality that only one in three British women who are sexually assaulted report this to the Police, that very few cases are prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service and that only a very small minority of these result in a conviction.
This book is extremely well written and the message it contains will hopefully be widely circulated and more importantly acted upon.

Having read the play version of this story, I was interested in reading the book because I think this is a super important story to read and talk about. The play itself was so heartbreaking and I was curious about the changes Miller would make to translate the story as a novel. Miller did not disappoint. The novel fleshes out Tess's character more than the play and the people in her life more making it easier for the reader to connect and get invested in. In particular, the attention Tess's brother, Johnny got added a lot to the story for me.

The two-act structure of the play mostly translates into the two-part novel well. I did enjoy Part One just because I found the then and now chapters in Part Two to be more jarring in the novel. I wish Miller had kept the events in chronological order instead but that might be a personal preference.

Overall, I am glad I read both the play and the novel but I found the novel more hard-hitting because I could connect with Tess more easily. The ending also gave me a bit more closure as a reader. I think Miller deals with the topic of rape sensitively and her portrayal of the legal system's approach to rape is insightful. I would recommend this.

Well written and a true page turner. From the way the characters are described we can be fully immersed in their lives and become truly invested. The way the story progressed left me wanting to know what happens next and it didn't disappoint.

Wow, I wasn't sure on this book to begin with, but I've just finished it and it's blown me away.

I listened to the audiobook (thank you to Libro FM for the ALC) and Jodie Comer does an amazing job at narrating. I feel shocked at how emotional this was, but given the subject matter, maybe I shouldn't be.

Of course, there are trigger warnings for this book, and the heavier stuff starts at the midway point. I will admit that I initially dnf'd the ebook as I didn't think it was for me and found the beginning a bit boring, but hearing that Jodie Comer narrates the audiobook, I had to listen to it.

The audio version truly transformed this for me, and I can see it working really well as a play (after googling, I learned this is a play). As a written piece, I found it hard to get into.

Overall, I would rate this 4 stars. 5 stars for the excellent narration. The writing was also very good, though slow to get going as mentioned. The subject matter is extremely important and left me with chills. I really can't recommend enough listening to the audiobook.

This is Tessa Ensler’s story, told by her directly to the reader. She is constantly analysing her impressions, memories and behaviour. It is easy to find oneself immersed in her world and intrigued by it.

She is a successful barrister in the criminal court, especially well known for winning difficult cases for defendants accused of sexual assault. She loves and trusts the law and feels empowered and thrilled when holding someone’s future in her hands. She wants to do right, for the benefit of her defendants but also for the basic principle that justice needs to be done. Law School taught her that the legal truth may not necessarily reflect life’s truth and so she skilfully plays the game of law and gets many of her defendants of the hook. This perspective gets seriously challenged when she herself becomes a victim of a sexual assault and puts her trust in the legal system that she now experiences as unhelpful and broken. Her search for justice is a harrowing and sobering experience and sheds a very critical light on a judicial system that does not seem to be fit for purpose.

Apart from insights into the working of the Judiciary, this book attempts to tackle a number of other issues – mainly related to class - on the back of Tessa’s personal story. Having grown up on a council estate with an abusive dad and later a single mum, she became a scholarship student at Cambridge and after graduating, defying all the odds, was called to the Bar, where she enters the world of the privileged and entitled. As she tries her best not to stick out like a sore thumb, she observes and copies her new environment and is torn between wanting to belong and being true to her roots. She learns that hard work only gets you so far, what you really need, is to be connected with the mighty and powerful in the establishment. And although this is undeniably true, this part of her story feels cliched, heavy-handed and laboured in its execution.

It felt like the book didn’t add much to the much-celebrated original play. If, however, as I suspect, it brings a different reading audience into the realm, it has been a worthwhile undertaking because its message is without a shadow of doubt very important and relevant.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Hutchinson Heinemann for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tessa Ensler is a successor criminal defence barrister. She grew up on an estate in Luton and fought her way through her Law Degree thanks to a scholarship. She is now working in chambers in London and spends quite a bit of time defending those accused of sexual assault. She strenuously believes in the system until the boot is on the other foot. A very well written book based on the play of the same name.

Briefly, her life is turned upside down when she herself is sexually assaulted by somebody she considered a close and loving friend. Determined to seek justice for herself she reports the assault to the police and so the wheels of justice start to turn but ever so slowly as appears the norm.

Through Tessa’s own words we follow her life both before the assault and afterwards right through to the trial. The first part of the book is quite slow paced but the second part ramps up and is quite brilliant. Although a work of fiction the story clearly shows the dreadful success rate of such cases and how the legal system itself is a complete failure for so many victims. Please be aware that Tessa’s assault is very graphic. A fascinating and important story well told, particularly the courtroom scenes which are compelling.

4,5
'Prima Facie' deals with some important topics and with great insight. I liked Miller's focus on class differences and her knowledge of the legal system and how infuriating certain aspects of the law can be. This was amazing, impressive and disturbing.
Thank you Hutchinson Heinemann and Netgalley UK for the ARC.

As someone who works with the offenders who commit these sorts of offences, I have been increasingly frustrated by the public opinion that it is all the polices fault. This book was SUCH a breath of fresh air that sheds light on the wider issue and landscape of what actually goes in to getting someone convicted and pointing out the flaws in the system

I struggled to engage with the MC a little bit even at the end of the book, she was written so brutally. I’m not sure if this was the point of the text

The story told within this book was all things gripping and harrowing and, in the times we live in, sadly so very very prevalent. We start with Tessa who has, against the odds, worked her way up the ladder to become a top criminal defense barrister. She has a very good track record of defending those who are accused of some of the most heinous crimes. She fully believes in the justice system. Innocent until proven guilty, reasonable doubt, the very foundations of our society.
Until it happens to her. She is raped by a co-worker - and be warned (don't usually like trigger warnings but) that scene plays out fully in the book - and she, well basically, finds herself on the other side of the system she loves. She herself gets to find out exactly how the "victims" she has defended people against really truly feels and, well, the scales start to drop...
Oh My Days. I really need to go see the play that this is based on. Fingers crossed it tours in the not too distant future. It's unusual for things to happen this way round.. Usually books are adapted to the stage, not the other way round, but in this case, it most definitely works.
It's tough reading, but powerful. Interesting that we see the before Tessa and the after Tessa and get to witness the change she goes through. We also see how others react to what happened and their "interpretations" and "advice" about what Tessa "should" do.
It's definitely not a comfortable read and I cant say I "enjoyed" it but boy have I read something important. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This is very much a book of two halves.

Nothing happens for the first 50% of the book. The pace is slow and there is a lot of filler. I really struggled to keep going and I now know more about barrister’s wigs than I will ever need to know. In fact, during the first half of the book, I would have gone as far as to say that this is primarily a book about barrister’s wigs.

The second half of the book however is stunning! So powerful. Heartbreaking, disturbing, devastating and ultimately, hopeful. It’s like a totally different book! The writing style seems to morph from clunky to sublime and I was so gripped, I couldn’t stop reading. Wig-obsessed and drippy Tessa becomes a character worth reading about and worth spending time with. The legal case is fascinating and is interspersed with flashbacks to the night of the crime and the days and weeks following it.

The first 50% is a 1 ⭐️ and the second 50% is a 5 ⭐️, so I’ll meet in the middle at 3 ⭐️ and suggest that anyone reading this book starts around 45% in.

Thanks to Netgalley, Suzie Miller and Random House Cornerstone for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I feel privileged to have seen a filmed performance of Jodie Comer in the play of Prima Facie, and the call to sisterhood and the strength to speak out against violence against women, in whatever form, seems even more pronounced in this book. However, although Ms Miller obviously feels passionately about the subject, she manages not to have written a polemic, but a nuanced telling of Tessa's story and her reactions along the way.
Thank you to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

If you like a courtroom drama with a relatable and likeable main character - I can recommend Prima Facie by Suzie Miller. This book is a tough read, but one that is necessary and does it's job brilliantly.
Set in London, this is the story of an impressive and experienced defense barrister who believes in the rule of law. It is only when she is faced with reporting a crime and then having to 'defend' herself, that she realises how unfair the criminal justice system can be, particularly to women. I want my daughter and all of her young adult friends to read this book, as it shows that sexism and classism remains rife, and exposes what they need to be aware of and the changes they need to fight for.
It was only after I finished the book that i realised it was written after the play of the same name. I can just imagine Jodie Comer in the starring role, and I can hear her voice, particularly when Tessa is speaking in court at the end of the book. The hairs on my arms have risen just thinking about it.
The other highlights for me were the relationships, with her friends, and with her Mum and brother, and with her little niece.
I have no hesitation in giving #PrimaFacie 5 stars and I will be raving about it to anyone who will listen.

What an incredible read. I have heard so many great reviews about the play so I had high expectations for this book and it certainly did not disappoint. It was a powerful book and uncomfortable in parts of course due to the subject matter but it was paced extremely well and had me gripped throughout.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.