Nemone: A young woman barrister’s battle against prejudice, class and misogyny. Her controversial marriage.

by Nemone Lethbridge

Born in India in 1932 to a military family with a long tradition of service to the Raj; Nemone Lethbridge was educated at Tudor Hall School and Somerville College, Oxford. One of two girls in her year to read law she was told by a (male) tutor that the idea of a woman going to the Bar was ludicrous. Nevertheless, she was called in 1956, one of a tiny handful of women to achieve this. Many doors were closed to these work was hard to come by. It was lucky chance that Nemone became counsel of choice for the notorious Kray Twins, a position that she occupied for seven years.In 1959 she married Jimmy O’Connor whose background from a poverty-stricken Irish family was the polar opposite of her own. This marriage outraged the In 1942 Jimmy had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death. That sentence was commuted to one of life imprisonment. He was released on license in 1952 and became what a leading critic called “perhaps the most important writer to come out of prison since Bunyan”. Nevertheless, the Bar turned its back on Nemone, and it took eighteen years for her to find Chambers where she could resume her professional practice.

383 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 10, 2021

Reviews

[D Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A long but really good read and gives a good account of her experiences in those times and definitely worth the time to read it.