The Trial Of Lady Chatterley’s Lover

The prosecution then read that extraordinary page about the source of life. The court sat rapt… ‘The weight of a man’s balls puritanical?’
The witness: ‘Yes, it is puritanical in its reverence.’
‘Reverence for what?’ screamed the prosecutor. ‘The balls?’
‘Indeed, yes,’ said the witness gently.

When Penguin released a new, unexpurgated edition of DH Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover in 1960 they were charged with the crime of publishing obscene material. The publisher was forced to defend the book’s literary merit in a court of law – thus beginning one of the most famous trials of the 20th century.

There to take it all in, armed with her pencil and paper, was Sybille Bedford - who wastes no time complaining about the claustrophobia of Courtroom 1 at the Old Bailey. With her trademark wit and flair, Bedford presents us with a play-by-play of the trial: from the prosecution’s questioning of the novel’s thirteen sexual encounters and their listing of all 66 instances of swear words, to the dozens of witnesses who testified - including the Bishop of Woolwich and E. M. Forster.

Bedford gives us a timeless and dramatic account that captures one of the most fascinating and absurd moments in both legal and publishing history, when attitudes and morals shifted forever.