About the Book: A Cruel Love by Carol Ann Lee is a meticulously researched biography of Ruth Ellis, the last woman executed in Britain. In 1955, at 28, Ellis shot her lover, David Blakely, outside a London pub. Despite public outcry and a brief trial, she was convicted and hanged at Holloway Prison. Lee’s narrative delves into Ellis’s tumultuous life, including her abusive upbringing, troubled relationships, and the 1950s nightclub scene, providing a nuanced portrait of a woman often misunderstood. The book, previously titled A Fine Day for a Hanging, has been adapted into an ITV drama, A Cruel Love, starring Lucy Boynton.