Louisa Treger and Laura Enston chaired by David Isaac

Novelist Louisa Treger discusses her latest novel, A Fatal Love, an extraordinary retelling of the story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, with Laura Enston, granddaughter of Ellis, who last year successfully campaigned for Ellis to be posthumously pardoned.

Their conversation will begin at 6.30pm, and is preceded by a wine reception that starts at 6pm. 

A Fatal Love

On Easter Sunday, 1955, as Ruth Ellis awaits trial in Holloway Prison, she remembers the events which led up to the death of her lover, David Blakely. Meanwhile, Kitty Carrington – the assistant to Ruth’s trial lawyer – must navigate her way through the man’s world of 1950s law and ensure Ruth receives a fair trial.

Weaving together both women’s fates, A Fatal Love tells the story of one of the most notorious trials of the 20th Century as it’s never been heard before – from the women at the heart of it.

“Unbearably tense and utterly harrowing, this superb novel’s most tragic figure is the one truly innocent party, Ellis’s small son Andy” – Wendy Holden, Daily Mail

Louisa Treger’s five novels – The Lodger (2014), The Dragon Lady (2019), Madwoman (2022), The Paris Muse (2024) and A Fatal Love (2026) – have been translated into several languages. Her work has twice been selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month, most recently for Madwoman, which was also a Book of the Month in the Independent. She has written for numerous publications, including Financial Times, The Times, the Telegraph, Tatler, BBC History Magazine, and English Heritage.

Laura Enston is a speaker and campaigner who on 8th July, 2026, alongside her siblings, secured a conditional pardon for Ruth Ellis from His Majesty The King, 70 years after her execution. This brought to an end a campaign which has spanned generations of her family. Her work centres on truth, healing, and the human cost of punishment that does not end with the condemned.

Their conversation will be chaired by Lord David Isaac, Provost of Worcester College, Oxford and President of the Oxford Literary Festival. He is also a former chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission of Great Britain.