The fact of a body / Marzano-Lesnevich, Alexandria

In this haunting hybrid of memoir and true crime account, Marzano-Lesnevich describes how a law school internship set her on a collision course with Ricky Langley, a pedophile and murderer, forcing her to contend with past trauma and preexisting prejudice.

Memoir of Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich about her days as a young law student and the summer internship in Louisiana that confronted her with the case of convicted murderer Ricky Langley, whose face and voice triggered in her an emotional wish for his death. Surprised, because she had been staunchly against the death penalty, she investigated Langley's case, and unearthed long-buried family secrets of her own and discovered that her past could color her view of her legal cases.

The Fact of a Body is a book not only about how the story of one crime was constructed, but about how we understand our past, the nature of forgiveness, and whether a single narrative can ever really contain something as definitive as the truth.