'The Ballad of Maria Marten' by Beth Flintoff

In 1827 Maria Marten was brutally murdered by William Corder, a local landowner and her lover, in a barn in Suffolk. Her death became a Victorian sensation and was immortalised in song and story, even as the culprit was awaiting trial. 
‘The Red Barn Murder became a popular melodrama attracting huge audiences at local fairs. Versions of the story have seen it turned into novels, plays, radio dramas and films, all focussing on the gory details of the murder.

Beth Flintoff’s sensitive and compelling adaptation, while sticking closely to the known facts, dispenses with the sensation and explores the person of Maria herself from her childhood to her untimely death.