Suzie Miller’s hit play ‘Prima Facie’ is now a book – and Jodie Comer narrates it

The story follows a criminal defense barrister who becomes a victim

The book follows big wins for the play at the Tony and Lawrence Olivier awards (Helen Murray/iStock/The Independent )

Suzie Miller wrote the award-winning show Prima Facie after years of working in law and listening to victim testimony. Now, she’s reworked the hit play into a novel.

After debuting in pre-covid Australia, Prima Facie premiered in the West End in 2022. Starring Jodie Comer and with composition by Self Esteem, the show went on to win best new show and best actress at the Lawrence Olivier Awards before opening on Broadway – a film is now also in the works.

Inspired by Miller’s experience as a criminal defence lawyer in sexual assault cases, the play follows Tessa, a criminal defence barrister who specialises in defending men accused of sexual assault. Then, she was assaulted herself. As Tessa tries to get justice for her own rape, Miller drives home how the legal system consistently fails women in court.

To bring it to a wider audience, Miller has dedicated the book to “all the women who comprise the ‘one in three’”, referring to a line in the play’s powerful script about the number of women who are sexually assaulted in the UK each year.

If you’re yet to see the play or want to revisit Tessa’s story, here’s where you can buy the book version of Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie – plus the audiobook narrated by Jodie Comer.

Prime Facie by Suzie Miller, published by Hutchinson Heinemann: £15.62, Amazon.co.uk

(Amazon)

A novelised version of the award-winning play, Miller’s Prima Facie pads out the court drama. A successful barrister who’s disguised her working-class roots in a male-dominated world, she specialises in getting men acquitted from sexual assault trials. But when the tables are turned and a date with a colleague goes horribly wrong, Tessa is forced to question the lies she’s built a career on.

If you missed out on seeing Jodie Comer’s one-woman turn in the play’s West End or Broadway run, the Tony-award-winning actor also narrates the audiobook (£7.99, Amazon.co.uk) in what’s sure to be an equally powerful performance.

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