Fred & Edie

Fred & Edie is a 2000 epistolary and semi-biographical novel by Jill Dawson.^[1] The novel is loosely based on the murder of Percy Thompson by his with Edith Thompson and, her lover Frederick Bywaters. The novel develops a sympathetic reading of Edie's understanding of the crime and subsequent incarceration as depicted in her unsent letters to Fred.^[1][2]

First edition (publ. Sceptre)

The novel was shortlisted for both the 2000 Whitbread Novel Award and the 2001 Orange Prize for Fiction, though won neither.^[2]

Reception

The novel was generally well received. New Zealand Herald reviewer John McCrystal, called the novel " a dazzling novel, gripping and moving."^[1] McCrystal called Edie's characterization as " a brilliant feat of characterisation" in contrast to Fred, "he never quite comes alive".^[1] In reflecting on Dawson' career, the British Council called " Dawson's version of this tragic story is haunting and compelling, particularly as Edie realises the terrible fate that awaits her."^[2] The Orange Prize nomination called the novel a "novel of entrancing imagination, sensitivity and grace" which "creates an intimate, tantalising voice for Edie".^[3]