Murder On The Verandah

Murder On The Verandah by Eric Lawlor


ISBN
9780006550655
Published
Released
01 / 05 / 2000
Binding
Paperback
Pages
320
Dimensions
130 x 197mm

Love and Betrayal in British Malaya.

'For a man to marry the wrong type of woman and to bring her to the tropics is rather like caging a lioness in the zoo. She will live and sleep and eat and may even reproduce her species, but given the chance she will turn round and rend her keeper and destroy him if she can.'

On 23 April 1911, in Kuala Lumpur, Ethel Proudlock, the Eurasian wife of an Englishman, shot dead William Steward, a mine manager. In the sensational trial that followed she claimed that he had tried to rape her, but the evidence pointed to a passionate affair, and a murder inspired by jealousy. Found guilty and sentenced to death, she walked free after being pardoned by the Sultan of Selangor, much against the wishes of British officials.

The event scandalised polite society, and revealed the suffocating nature of expatriate life in Malaya, where the British ruled with an unhealthy blend of suburban aspiration and gross insensitivity to the native population. Petty, hypocritical and terribly unhappy, the British never counted Malaya as home and spent their time wishing they weren't there. "Cheltenham on the Equator" was rocked to its foundations by the dark, sordid nature of the trial.

In this compelling work of social history Eric Lawlor examines Ethel Proudlock's case for the first time since the trial, and creates a disturbing portrait of this little-known outpost of Empire.
March Book Frenzy (Online Only)
20.76
RRP: $25.95
20% off RRP


This product is unable to be ordered online. Please check in-store availability.
Instore Price: $25.95
Enter your Postcode or Suburb to view availability and delivery times.

You might also like

A Little Life
22.99
17.99
22% Off
The Lovely Bones
32.99
14.99
55% Off
Norwegian Wood
22.99
18.39
20% Off
Kafka On The Shore
22.99
18.39
20% Off
The Bronze Horseman
22.99
18.39
20% Off
The WindUp Bird Chronicle
22.99
18.39
20% Off
Sputnik Sweetheart
22.99
18.39
20% Off
The Satanic Verses
22.99
18.39
20% Off
The Summer Garden
22.99
18.39
20% Off
Atonement
22.99
18.39
20% Off
The Time Travelers Wife
22.99
18.39
20% Off
The Elephant Vanishes
22.99
18.39
20% Off
Montana 1948
16.95
13.56
20% Off
The Longest Memory
22.99
18.39
20% Off
After Dark
22.99
18.39
20% Off
Dance Dance Dance
22.99
18.39
20% Off
A Fine Balance
24.99
19.99
20% Off
A Wild Sheep Chase
22.99
18.39
20% Off
The God Of Small Things
22.99
18.39
20% Off

RRP refers to the Recommended Retail Price as set out by the original publisher at time of release.
The RRP set by overseas publishers may vary to those set by local publishers due to exchange rates and shipping costs.
Due to our competitive pricing, we may have not sold all products at their original RRP.