Prima Facie by Suzie Miller

 

Prima Facie by Suzie Miller.

Published 14th March 2024 by Hutchinson Heinemann.

From the cover of the book:

From the Olivier award-winning playwright of Prima Facie Suzie Miller comes her first novel, where power, patriarchy and morality diverge.

‘This is not life. This is law.’

Tessa Ensler is a brilliant barrister who's forged her career in criminal defence through sheer determination. Since her days at Cambridge, she’s carefully disguised her working class roots in a male-dominated world where who you know is just as important as what you know. Driven by her belief in the right to a fair trial and a taste for victory, there’s nothing Tessa loves more than the thrill of getting her clients acquitted.

It seems like Tessa has it made when she is approached for a new job and nominated for the most prestigious award in her field. But when a date with a charismatic colleague goes horribly wrong, Tessa finds that the rules she’s always played by might not protect her, forcing her to question everything she's ever believed in . . .

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Barrister Tessa Ensler has fought hard to get where she is in the male-dominated legal world. Her career as a rising star in criminal defence is flying, and she has caught the eye of those who can help on her way to the pinnacle of her profession. Not bad for a working class girl from the wrong side of the tracks. 

Tessa is convinced by the age-old rhetoric that her role is to present a client's case to the best of her ability, playing her part against the storytelling skills of opposing counsel, leaving the responsibility to decide innocence or guilt to judge and jury. She is proud of her ability to think on her feet, and is getting a taste for victory in the courtroom.

However, when Tessa is sexually assaulted by one of her privileged colleagues, she finds that the sanctity of the law plays second fiddle to gender, who you know, and where you come from...

Prima Facie, the novel, is based on Suzie Miller's award-winning play of the same name, starring Jodie Comer, and something of the original stage setting brings intriguing texture and immediacy to the drama that plays out within its pages. Told in the first person from the point of view of Tessa, the story comes together in sections that reveal events in the Then of her past, and the Now of her present, building up a picture of a young woman whose determination to succeed has brought its rewards, until the moment when her hitherto unflinching faith in the law is dashed by the entitled behaviour of another.

There is so much fascinating detail about the life of a barrister in this story - both behind the scenes and in the heat of the moment in the courtroom, but it is Miller's ability to portray Tessa as such a believable character that makes it so compelling. As much as Tessa tries to hide her working class roots in an environment that is so comfortable with its privilege, her ability to connect with those beneath the notice of most of her colleagues gives her an intangible edge, making her eminently likeable from the start... and it means that what happens to her cuts all the deeper.

Miller does an outstanding job of contrasting and comparing the Tessa we get to know before her ordeal, as a barrister firm in her belief that defending someone who has been charged with sexual or violent crimes is just part of the job, with the woman who no longer recognises herself when she becomes the victim of such a crime herself. As difficult as it is to read about the moment of her rape and its immediate aftermath, it is the court scenes at the climax of the novel that are actually the most painful ones to endure - but they also allow Miller to deftly explore aspects of consent, and victimhood, and to take this story to a peak of such emotional intensity that I found myself sobbing throughout the final chapters of the book.

This is a powerful, beautifully written book that shows how the dramatic arts can force society to take a good hard look at itself. I am very sorry not to have seen Jodie Comer's performance as Tessa, but can fully understand how Miller's play became the catalyst for real change in the way the law examines cases of serious sexual assault. This one will really stay with me. 

Prima Facie is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Hutchinson Heinemann for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Suzie Miller is an international playwright, librettist and screenwriter. She has a background in law, and has won numerous awards, including the Australian Writers' Guild, Kit Denton Fellowship for Writing with Courage and an Olivier Award. She lives in London and Sydney and is developing major theatre, film and television projects across the UK, USA and Australia.