Very conplex and heavy story that at times was a challenge to keep reading. but the writing is great and it really gets you thinking.

A gorgeous masterpiece. Compulsively readable. I read this cover to cover, all in one sitting. This gives you the benefit of an incredibly paced and plotted page turner as a true crime book but also the benefit of a gorgeously written memoir. Marzano-Lesnevich tells the story of a young boy murdered by a local man and also weaves in their own story of childhood abuse at the hands of a grandfather. Marzano-Lesnevich's background in law really shines here, particularly in discussing the specifics of the case (they have a JD from Harvard) but it's the seamless weaving back and forth of content between the case and their own experience that makes this book really shine.

This was a difficult book and a lot to work through. It was very powerful through it's difficult subject.

Thank you netgalley for my review copy of this book. This was a very intriguing and very personal story. The author finds herself as an intern for a law firm that is retrying a murder case. The child of two lawyers, she is certain that she is against the death penalty. However, after looking at the taped confession of the murderer in question she feels a strong desire for him to die. What could have happened to make her turn so quickly against her convictions?

Upon the examination of this specific case the author is forced to confront tragedies from her own childhood and this journey leads her to question everything she thought she believed in. An extremely personal account of the authors own experiences combined with the reconstruction of this horrific crime gives us a very unique and unforgettable story.

I thought this book was fantastic. I loved the combination of memoir and true crime narrative, and felt that the honesty of the writing really showed throughout the book. It's a difficult read at times, and it's certainly not for everyone, but I think this is an important look at mental health in the criminal justice system, the issue of the death penalty, and how we deal (or don't deal) with sexual abuse. This is going to be a contender for my best books of the year.

The facts are grim and undeniable. In the first week of February, 1992, in the rural town of Iowa, Louisiana, Jeremy Guillory, six, goes next door to see if his buddy can come out and play. The man who comes to the door, Ricky Langley, tells Jeremy that his buddy is gone but will be back soon. Does he want to come in and wait? Jeremy knows Ricky who rents a room from his buddy's parents and who has babysat for him and the couple's children so he goes in.

Later that day his mother, Lorilei, goes out and calls Jeremy to come in for supper. He doesn't respond, so she goes next door. Ricky comes to the door and tells her he hasn't seen Jeremy. She goes to her brother's house close by but they haven't seen Jeremy either so they call the police. A massive search ensues, lasting for three days. But the search will find nothing because Ricky Langley killed Jeremy in the first minutes after he entered the house. He stored his body in his bedroom closet, wrapped in blankets and a garbage bag.

Years later, Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich comes to Louisiana as an intern at a firm that handles Death Row appeals. The case she is given to help with is that of Ricky Langley who was sentenced to death at his trial for the murder of Jeremy Guillory. Although she has spent her life opposing the death penalty, she is amazed to find that her overwhelming response is to agree with the verdict and wish for the death penalty to be applied. What causes this emotion which seems to contradict her core beliefs?

The author then delves into the backstory of both Ricky and her own family. The central truth of her childhood is that she was molested for several years by her maternal grandfather, abuse that her family denied and shoved away. That denial shaped her childhood and made her determined to find another life that the one she had led to that point. She was also traumatized when she found out that she wasn't a twin, but a triplet with one sibling that didn't survive for long and wasn't mentioned in the family. Ricky's childhood started with a family tragedy; a car wreck that killed two of his siblings and put his mother in the hospital for months in a full body cast. On a home visit, she is somehow impregnated and that was Ricky. No one believed it was possible so his mother continued to receive massive amounts of medicine and painkillers. The doctors wanted to terminate the pregnancy when it was finally discovered as they thought there was a high chance of birth defects but the parents refused and Ricky was born. Was this the reason that he started molesting children when he was nine or ten? No one will ever know. Ricky was always a strange child who didn't have friends and was the odd one out in the family dynamic.

Ricky's first trial is overturned and he actually receives three trials before he is finally sentenced to life in prison. The author follows the trials and the surprising fact that Jeremy's mother testified for the defense in the second trial because she didn't want the death penalty. As the author uncovers more and more of Ricky's troubled life, she also delves into her own family's troubled lives and states the question of how do we fix the point in time when a story begins? With Ricky, did the story start when he murdered Jeremy or did it start when he was born with so many counts against him? How responsible was he as he asked for help multiple times that he didn't receive?

This is a chilling book that raises many questions for the reader. How do we overcome tragic events in our lives? Can we push the damage aside and emerge whole? What is the role of choice, or more simply, nature vs. nurture? This is a compelling memoir that will leave the reader thinking about these issues long after the last page is turned. This book is recommended for true crime readers as well as those interested in memoirs about overcoming obstacles.

Alexandria takes a job as a summer intern at a Louisiana law firm that defends murderers. When she sees a videotape of Ricky Langley’s confession she does not expect the maelstrom of personal memories and emotions that bombards her, or the journey that she will embark on as a result. In this book the author tells us the story of Ricky Langley side-by-side with her own story. Both of these stories are moving and compelling, addressing the complexity of family relationships and how they shape who we are.

I found this book really easy and enjoyable to read even though the subject matter is at times very dark. The author spent years researching the Ricky Langley case and has put together a very thorough presentation of his story. At the same time, she has opened herself up in a heart-wrenching way in order to relate her own story. The story is well-written and moves seamlessly between the two narratives. This is a great biography/memoir/true crime story.

I love true crime books and this one looked really interesting, but I wasn't sure what to expect, since it is a memoir as much as it is an account of the actual event. I found that the book was good at both of these things simultaneously. The author has written a heart wrenching account of a real murder, with details described in such a way that it makes you feel like you are reading a thriller.

If you are tried of reading dry, droll recounts of crimes scenes by people who used third party information to write their books, then this one will offer you something different. I felt the events of this book deeply because of the compassionate and descriptive writing of the author. This was much better than most of the true crime books I've read before as it made me feel closer to the family and eager to see the guilty punished for their heinous crime.

I definitely recommend this book to others who enjoy true crime stories. Brink a handkerchief along though, you'll need it.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

You may remember that when I set my blogging goals for this year, I stated I wanted to try a memoir. As I have a background in the law, this one caught my attention right off the bat...

This is not a comfortable read and could have triggers for some, but definitely a journey worth taking. As the synopsis says, this is so much more than a story about murder, its a moving memoir. While preparing to follow her family's footsteps in a law career, Marzano-Lesnevich is introduced to a murder case. However, this murder case parallels so significantly with her own life, Marzano-Lesnevich is soon facing her own demons at the same time. Secrets hidden for years must be revealed for a deeper understanding of the past. What is particularly amazing about this journey is not only does the author discover herself, but she so poignantly captures how one's own history can color the frame of a legal decision - what is justice and who is it for? This book is a perfect example of how the law is not black and white - there is a ton of grey.

Go get your copy now - this book is out today!

**I received my copy via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you to the author and publisher for this opportunity.**

Headline:
Though not perfect, The Fact of a Body is a thoroughly unique, complex, and emotionally gut-wrenching mash-up of true crime story and dysfunctional childhood memoir.

Plot Summary:
Marzano-Lesnevich interweaves the painful story of her upbringing in an abusive family with the true story of the murder of a five year-old boy by a sex offender (Ricky Langley).

Why I Read It:
A mash-up of a dysfunctional childhood memoir with true crime literally couldn’t be any farther up my alley. Plus, Celeste Ng, author of Everything I Never Told You (my review), called it a “marvel.”

Major Themes:
Crime, Mental Illness, Pedophilia, Childhood Trauma, Abuse, Family Secrets

What I Loved:
- This memoir / true crime mash-up is totally unique and was mostly (see below) successful for me. Marzano-Lesnevich interweaves the true story of the murder of five year old Jeremy Guillory by convicted sex offender Ricky Langley (and Langley’s childhood and coming of age) with the story of her own family and childhood, which resembles Ricky’s in surprising ways.
- The farther I read, the more sense it made to meld these two stories into one book.
- Marzano-Lesnevich’s exploration of the making of a sex offender is frightening and heart-breaking all at the same time. And, the juxtaposition of reading about the perpetrator of a sex crime alongside the victim of a sex crime gives this story incredible depth and nuance…and certainly brought up some complex feelings for me.
- By the end of the book, I was just heart-broken about all of it and surprisingly emotionally gutted.

What I Didn’t Like:
- The Fact of a Body has been compared to In Cold Blood, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Serial, and Making A Murderer. For me, the Serial and Making A Murderer comparisons were unfounded and misleading. Serial and Making A Murderer focused heavily on “is or isn’t the suspect actually guilty?” And, that’s not what The Fact of a Body does at all. Rather, you know who the perpetrator is right away and there is never any question of his guilt. The Fact of a Body is more an exploration into the psyche of a killer and sex offender…a la In Cold Blood.
- Initially, I found the writing style and structure a bit tedious. The shifts between Ricky/Jeremy and Marzano-Lesnevich’s childhood were jumpy and Marzano-Lesnevich injected her own opinions/speculation into the Ricky/Jeremy story with statements like “he must have been thinking X” or “maybe he does Y,” which I found annoying. However, either I eventually got used to the style or things smoothed out farther into the book, because it bothered me much less by the end.

A Defining Quote:
"But how could I fight for what I believed when as soon as a crime was personal to me, my feelings changed? Every crime was personal to someone."

Good for People Who Like:
True Crime, dysfunctional childhood memoirs, dysfunctional families, emotional gut-wrenchers

The Fact Of A Body is a gem, a fantastic masterpiece that deserves to be read and shared with readers who appreciate both true crime and fiction genre.

4+. Powerful and emotionally raw, I have never read anything quite like this before. Pedophiles and the harm they cause, the lasting effects on their victims, whether in family or without, the subject makes this a difficult book to read. As a law student the author comes across a case involving the death of a six year old and the offender, at the time on death row, a young man named Ricky. Although she doesn't believe in the death penalty she is shocked to find how much she wants this man to die. It triggers memories of the abuse within her own family and she sets out to understand​, both Ricky's case and her own family and what lived within the confines of supposed love.

This story is so personal, we feel as if we are travelling with her as she makes her discoveries, witness her pain and anguish, feel with her as she tries to understand. The secrets held in her own family, passed down through generations, and her attempt to understand what makes someone sexually prey on others. The subject matter maybe a trigger for some, it is quite vividly presented, often looked at through the eyes of the child she was, absolutely devastating and heartbreaking.

I do believe stories like these need to be told, not just as a catharis for the teller but as a way to bring these things out in the open, start a dialogue so others are not afraid to speak. Narrative nonfiction, mixed with a memoir and even some fiction writing, but it is done skillfully and honestly.

Link to review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1948464501

All opinions are my own and do not represent those of any organization I am affiliated with.

This book is about intertwining histories, that of the author who is going through the process of finding herself after being molested by her grandfather, and a young boy Jeremy Guillory who was murdered by a child molester. For Alexandria she comes to question her beliefs and who she is when she comes across a death penalty case of Ricky Langley. Alexandria has always been against the death penalty. But when she comes across the case of Ricky Langley who is a convicted sex offender and murderer she finds that she wants him to die. This sets her on a course of finding out the truth. But what she finds isn't so black and white as the truth she expects to find.
Overall I rated this book five stars out of five. This was an excellent book it was extremely well written. It definitely got to the heart of the matter. The author poured her heart and soul in this book as she does in her real life. In writing this book the author found what she was looking for, that what is true in life isn't so black and white. Instead it is a murky line in the gray area that you can be one thing and be another thing too at the same time. I think this book had many lessons to be learned, even though with the subject matter it was at times difficult to read. This book is a must read and should be read by everyone.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich, and Flatiron Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Release Date: May 16, 2017
Length: 336 pages

Single Sentence Summary: The anti-death penalty convictions of a law student are put to the test when the first case she interns on stirs memories of abuse in her own past.

Primary Characters: The Fact of a Body is a nonfiction investigation of murderer Ricky Langley’s life and crimes. It’s also a memoir of the largely hidden abuse suffered by the author at the hands of her grandfather.

From the Publisher: 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.

Review: The Fact of a Body is really two very distinct stories tied together by sexual abuse. The bulk of this book focuses on Rickey Langley, a convicted murderer whose crimes against children impelled Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich to thoroughly investigate. Like many on death row, Ricky’s life had been difficult from his very conception. As Marzano-Lesnevich digs deeper, she sees a side of Ricky worthy of compassion, but still his crimes are horrific. Tried and convicted three times for the murder of a young boy, Ricky’s accounts of his crime were ever changing making the truth impossible to find. After the basics of Ricky’s life and crimes were presented once, I grew weary of the retellings and re-workings. For me, there were too many angles and too many opinions. I lost interest in Ricky, and by the end felt no compassion at all for him. I also had a hard time understanding Marzano-Lesnevich’s near obsession with his case.

The memoir portion of The Fact of a Body I found much more compelling. Alexandra and her sisters were abused by their grandfather as young girls. When discovered, his crimes were stopped, but never truly acknowledged. This left Alexandra haunted and hurt in fundamental ways. How could a family of lawyers ignore such a crime? Why was her grandfather not exiled from the family? As an adult, why does her sister disavow his abuse? These questions and their answers come into focus as the author is investigating Ricky and the life that led to his own abusive action.

“But how you tell the story has everything to do with how you judge. Begin Ricky’s story with the murder – and it means one thing. Begin it with the crash – and it means another. Begin with what my grandfather did to me and my sister. Or, begin when he was a boy, and someone did it to him.”

I’m not a reader of crime fiction, which may account for why I came to dislike all the investigating into Ricky’s crimes. It seemed to be too much attention given to a pedophile/murderer. For me, Alexandra’s memories of abuse and her journey toward healing were the real stars of The Fact of a Body. Grade: B-

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.

I was completely and utterly blown away by THE FACT OF A BODY. Marzano-Lesnevich tells the story of Ricky Langely, a pedophile convicted of murdering a six year old boy, balanced with the story of her own childhood molestation. THE FACT OF A BODY is both true crime and memoir, a book of searching for what makes us and trying to determine the truth. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Marzano-Lesnevich complicates things. Life is never simple. Beginnings are never easily determined. Throughout the book, she humanizes Ricky and acknowledges his faults. But perhaps what was the most gripping to me was the way that she shows how many different endings and meanings a story can take depending where you start.

THE FACT OF A BODY does not end with easy answers. It does not start with an easy story. Marzano-Lesnevich uses Ricky's story to try to find some sort of peace with her own. There is no tidy solution to either story. Rather, a simple recognition that nothing is ever simple.

I was given a free copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The subtitle of the book, "a Murder and a Memoir", succinctly describes the basic structure of this story.

The murder:
Jeremy Guilford was a six year old boy who was murdered by a pedophile, Ricky Langley, in Louisiana in 1992. Langely goes to trial and the author is a lawyer investigating his case.

The memoir:
The author is affected in several ways by what she learns about the Langely case. Staunchly anti death penalty since childhood, she is shocked to realize that she wants him to die. She has to reexamine her beliefs about justice in the worst kind of crimes.
Reading about the pedophilia brings up long buried memories of her own repeated molestation at the hands of her grandfather. She deals with the scars that she has carried since childhood due to both the abuse itself, and also the refusal of her family to admit that it happened.

"It is always possible that the solution to one mystery will solve another."
This is the first line of the Prologue, and it sums up the relationship between the murder and the memoir. Each sheds light on the other.

I only gave this book 3 stars because, although the individual parts were interesting, it was difficult to follow what was going on because of the organization of the book. Scenes from the author's childhood, scenes from her later life as a lawyer, scenes from the time of the murder, scenes from the childhood and earlier life of Langley and finally scenes from the trial itself all mixed together. All of this is interspersed with trial transcripts, and flashbacks. It was just too confusing for me. If the organization and format had been clearer, I believe I would have enjoyed this more. Nevertheless, it is worth reading if you like true crime novels, and have a strong stomach for descriptions of unspeakable crimes against children. You might also like it if you are interested in legal issues, or the long term affects of child abuse on victims.

Note: I received an eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I've read several true crime books in the last couple years and they all seem to have one thing in common for me...they've brought me to tears and infiltrated my thoughts in such a way that I couldn't stop thinking about the people in the stories. This true crime/memoir has been no different. I like to read while on the elliptical and there was a point in my reading where I just had to take a break from this story and switch to a different one. The author's writing was beautiful and lyrical in a way that I was so fully engaged with the story that when the brutal details of little Jeremy's murder and then the author's own heartbreaking story came front and center, it really hit me in a way I wasn't expecting...hence the needed break.

Once composed, I dived back in because while at times brutal to read, this story is also fascinating, haunting, and illuminating. The author doesn't just haphazardly toss out details of Jeremy's murder and Ricky Langley's life and then switch to her own story. Rather, she weaves the narrative by alternating timelines involving Rickey's past and her own. While at times the shift between the two was abrupt and sometimes felt that it occurred mid-thought, overall this narrative technique worked very well to tell two separate stories. Let me back up for a minute and tell you what I mean by illuminating and fascinating. I found the author's discussion of the law in terms of the intricacies of what it means to seek truth and justice, the breakdown of the system (Ricky Langley had 3 trials!), and the inherent problems associated with having shades of gray in a legal system that's set up to be black and white. In addition, the author examines the very real breakdown of the family and criminal justice system in such a brilliant, "what if" way that, days later, I'm still thinking about...what if Ricky had a different type of childhood...what if that person at the hospital would've believed Ricky when he walked in and said he needed help...what if we had harsher sentences for sex offenders like Ricky...what if the author's own childhood was different...what if her childhood wasn't shrouded in secrets...what if children's voices were better heard in their own family as well as our justice system?? Of course, we'll never know the answers to these "what ifs" and that's what's so haunting.

This isn't an easy read by any means and I would guess some readers may not be able to read about the graphic details of murder and abuse. BUT, this is an important story and one that I'm sure many may see themselves in and will benefit from Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich's honesty.

Thank you to Flatiron Books for providing me with an advance copy of Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich's memoir, The Fact of a Body, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- In The Fact of a Body, Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich blends memoir with true crime, exploring the dark secrets of her own family, alongside the 1992 murder of six-year old Jeremy Guillory in Louisiana.

LIKE- Wow. Marzano-Lesnevich has written a book that I'm positive will forever stick with me. It's surprising, shocking, and wrought with emotion. I can't remember ever reading a book that blends memoir with an unrelated true crime. It made for an absolutely fascinating read. 

Jeremy Guillory was murdered by Ricky Langley, a twenty-six year old man who had a history of molesting children. Guillory was friends with the children that lived in the home where Langley was renting a room, and one afternoon, Guillory showed up while the other children were gone. Langley allowed Guillory to wait inside the house for his friends to return. Langley felt unable to control himself and he strangled Guillory, hiding the child's body inside his closet, which would not be discovered for three days. Langley would confess to the crime, although he changed the details of his confession several times. Although Langley was never considered mentally incapacitated, he mentioned being overcome by the spirit of his brother, who was decapitated in a car crash before Langley was born. It seems that Langley did molest Guillory, but it wasn't proven, and he has confessed, although again, not proven, to molesting several other children over the course of many years. There were three trials for Guillory's death and Langley was put on and subsequently taken off, death row. Guillory's mother testified on his behalf during the penalty phase, not wishing for him to be executed.

The true crime aspect of The Fact of a Body, would be interesting enough on its own, but Marzano-Lesnevich has taken a more in-depth approach to examining the case. She looks back at Langley's family and his troubled upbringing, stemming from a car crash before Langley was even born. This crash would kill two of his siblings and give his mother devastating life-long health problems. When she was pregnant with Langley, she was on heavy medication, the effects of which, surely impacted Langley's development. The family would struggle with poverty and addiction, never able to get their lives back on track.

Marzano-Lesnevich comes from a very different background, but she finds common ground with the Langley's and Guillory's. Her family doesn't discuss her father's depression or that her grandfather, has been molesting both Marzano-Lesnevich and her sister, for years. These secrets weigh heavy. Marzano-Lesnevich comes across the Guillory story when she is a summer intern during law school and the particulars of the case, make her reflect on her own family history of mental illness and molestation, on anger and forgiveness. 

DISLIKE- Not a single thing. The Fact of a Body is a book that I couldn't put down. However, I will issue a warning that this story has extremely graphic and upsetting details, that might make it too difficult for some readers. Proceed with caution.

RECOMMEND- Yes, you must read this book. Marzano-Lesnevich has masterfully blended memoir with crime to create an unforgettable story. Her writing is poignant and courageous. I'm certain that The Fact of a Body will shoot to the top of the bestsellers list.