A Murder and a Memoir
by Alexandria Marzano Lesnevich
narrated by author
Published: 2017
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Genre: Memoir, True Crime, Mystery
Hardback: 326
Rating: 5
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First sentence(s):
The boy wears sweatpants the color of a Louisiana lake.
Before Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich begins a summer job at a law firm in Louisiana, working to help defend men accused of murder, she thinks her position is clear. The child of two lawyers, she is staunchly anti-death penalty. But the moment convicted murderer Ricky Langley’s face flashes on the screen as she reviews old tapes―the moment she hears him speak of his crimes―she is overcome with the feeling of wanting him to die. Shocked by her reaction, she digs deeper and deeper into the case. Despite their vastly different circumstances, something in his story is unsettlingly, uncannily familiar.
Crime, even the darkest and most unsayable acts, can happen to any one of us. As Alexandria pores over the facts of the murder, she finds herself thrust into the complicated narrative of Ricky’s childhood. And by examining the details of Ricky’s case, she is forced to face her own story, to unearth long-buried family secrets, and reckon with a past that colors her view of Ricky's crime.
But another surprise awaits: She wasn’t the only one who saw her life in Ricky’s.
An intellectual and emotional thriller that is also a different kind of murder mystery, The Fact Of a Body is a book not only about how the story of one crime was constructed―but about how we grapple with our own personal histories. Along the way it tackles questions about the nature of forgiveness, and if a single narrative can ever really contain something as definitive as the truth. This groundbreaking, heart-stopping work, ten years in the making, shows how the law is more personal than we would like to believe―and the truth more complicated, and powerful, than we could ever imagine.
My two-bits:
Whoa! the connections and coincidences.
Along with being a mystery (of sorts), I liked reading about the growth and journey of Alexandria.
fyi: the story continues...
Ricky lost another appeal for freedom this past June. In September, it was announced the he is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to get his conviction thrown out.
* listened to the audio version
* monthly theme: True Crime, Hunger, Horror, Harassment
