false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184243348m/1494692.jpg 1077671 2 In 1966, when the author was 17, her 21-year-old sister, Laura, was murdered for no apparent reason by David Mumbaugh, a man she didn't even know. The girls' bereaved parents, "practical people who passed on their distrust of the intangible," made it clear that they must all "get on with their lives" without further discussion. Not until 1989, when she had two daughters of her own and found herself stuck in a troubled marriage, did Jane Bernstein pull out a folder containing 23-year-old articles describing her sister's death. This sensitive memoir chronicles her subsequent investigation into the case and weaves an account of the intervening years of college, political activism, and several abortive stints of therapy to show that Bernstein was badly damaged by Laura's loss and their parents' refusal to let her grieve. As she twice testifies against Mumbaugh's parole, arguing that he hasn't changed and is still dangerous, the author begins to realize that her violent husband won't change either. Eventually, she is able to assimilate the impact of Laura's death and to leave her spouse. Yet this is not a bitter book: Bernstein displays great compassion for her parents' inability to voice their sorrow and for her husband's inability to control his anger. Her simple, subtle prose conveys understanding, not recrimination. <I>--Wendy Smith</I> 1064387 2000 Bereft: A Sister's Story total:15|5:3|4:3|3:8|2:1| 15 53 28 4 4 0 false false Sun Sep 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 16:21:38 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 10:39:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Oct 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 11 10:55:44 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 02 08:38:06 -0700 2009 1 (Disclaimer: Jane Bernstein was a professor of mine. She intimidated the heck out of me at first, but she quickly grew to be someone I respected and adored, and even considered a friend. I never read her books while taking her classes because I didn't want to be influenced by them in any way, or vio...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jan 30 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 23 05:40:29 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 18 13:20:25 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon May 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 04 18:43:28 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 07 07:13:11 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Oct 02 06:10:28 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 06:10:28 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Jul 26 18:02:33 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 18:02:37 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri May 08 13:26:34 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 13:26:34 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Apr 19 08:23:06 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 08:23:13 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Apr 18 23:01:32 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 23:01:32 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Wed Mar 04 12:20:19 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 12:20:32 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Feb 02 00:45:57 -0800 2009 Wed Aug 12 07:25:06 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Dec 07 10:05:42 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 07 10:05:48 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Fri Dec 05 21:48:45 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 05 21:48:53 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Mon Oct 20 23:24:30 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 20 23:24:32 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Fri Oct 17 12:06:46 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 17 12:06:46 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Wed Oct 01 05:55:46 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 01 05:55:46 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Fri Aug 22 20:55:40 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 22 20:55:40 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Fri Jul 11 17:21:39 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 17:21:39 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Sun Jun 08 12:19:54 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 08 12:19:54 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Thu Jun 05 10:48:35 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 05 10:48:35 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1494692