The Ghostwriter

by Julie Clark

“Siblings define who you are at that age.

“Tell me what you need from me. Solutions? Distraction?”

Sometimes people just need to vent.

This is the consequence of speaking out as a woman. We are labeled hysterical, emotional, unreliable, and finally, incompetent.

The truth lives in people’s actions, their unguarded moments, not in the lies they tell.”

People’s recollections are tinted with their own biases. Their beliefs, layered over the top, sometimes rendering a completely different meaning.

There’s a reason historians rely so heavily on primary sources. Because human memory is flawed.

I believe the system worked. We didn’t prove our case, and if we can’t do that, then the grand jury shouldn’t indict.”

our only job was to examine the evidence in front of us. To present it in the most honest and compelling way for the grand jury. We did that. And they found it insufficient because at the time, it was. The purpose of reasonable doubt isn’t to prove anything; it’s to introduce questions. To show that there might have been another route of investigation. Reasonable doubt is like a bell—once rung, you can’t unring it.” He’s quiet for a moment, thinking. “The law can be a fluid thing,” he says. “Hard to pin down. We try to make it concrete, to apply it fairly, but it’s challenging even under the best of circumstances.”

you’ll always have that—the knowledge that you showed up when he needed you.” “He never showed up for me.” Jack gives me a sympathetic look. “Relationships aren’t transactional.”

“I think everyone copes with trauma and grief in different ways.”

Jack laughs, but he’s not really smiling. “You’re kidding, right? He’s a rich white man. I highly doubt it would have been the rest of his life.”

My father never apologizes. Not in the traditional sense. He’ll make a gesture—a grand one or a small one, depending on his transgression—but I’ve never once heard him say he was sorry.

“Every chapter has to have a point. Even if the reader can’t yet see it. Every story told must serve two purposes—to allow your reader to know your characters better, and to push the narrative toward the conclusion.”

When people get defensive, I know I’ve hit something they’d rather not talk about. But those are the places that will yield the most. Not necessarily as a narrative point, but the feelings and emotions behind why people do—or don’t do—something helps me understand their mind better.

Information is power. It’s never wrong to seek the answers you need.”

“It’s never far from the surface, but time has a way of healing,”

“When you get to be my age, there will be many moments—many decisions—you’ll wish you could go back and make again.