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Group Read The Fact of a Body Part 2- Spoilers welcome
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Chapter 11 Arizona and Louisiana 1964-1965Ricky Langley's five siblings and parents Alcide and Bessie are in a horrific car accident. Two of the children are killed and Bessie is in a full body cast for months. Ricky is conceived after the accident while Bessie is heavily medicated.
Chapter 11-this is where I began to become enthralled in the book. When I wasn't reading it, I couldn't stop thinking about the parallel stories. The back story of Ricky's family had me see him--though very briefly--as a person and not a predator. I started to want to know Bessie better, understand her and her life and the choices she made and those she ignored.
Angela: I could say the same. I could picture the family in the car, the wreck was horrific. Bessie is a person who I also was interested in; she certainly went through a great deal in her recovery. It left the survivors with an impact that must have colored the entire family dynamic and in turn did portray Ricky as partially sympathetic, for a while.
Angela wrote: "Chapter 11-this is where I began to become enthralled in the book. When I wasn't reading it, I couldn't stop thinking about the parallel stories. The back story of Ricky's family had me see him--th..."
I got bogged down reading other books and need to get back to summarizing.Chapter twelve New Jersey 1987
The author's childhood. Hard to summarize but very moving to read her thoughts and her early interest in law stemming first from her father and then her mother.
Chapter thirteen Louisiana 1965-1983
The author discovers she had a sister lost at birth, she was a triplet, not originally a twin. Ricky learns of his baby sister Vicky, killed in the accident and his brother also killed, Oscar Lee. Ricky is haunted by Oscar and he seeks help for his urges.
Chapter fourteen New Jersey 1990-1994
The author's teen years are hard, isolated and with feeling of hurt and guilt from the abuse coupled with undiagnosed lyme disease.
Chapter fifteen Louisiana 1984-1985
Troubled, Ricky is in mental health treatment and his family life is uneven and he could be described as triubled.
Chapter sixteen 1994-1995
The author's relationships with boys are an attempt to connect to someone colored by her memories.
Chapter seventeen Indiana 1986
Ricky goes to live with his Aunt Ruth who barely knows him or any of her sister's children. He almost commits suicide, she stops him.. he is expedited back to Georgia for sexual abuse and serves time, receives therapy and his GED. This chapter also skips ahead to his murder trial.
Chapter eighteen Chicago 1986
The author at college, thriving in independence, dating and struggling with an eating disorder that threatens her life.
Alexandria tries to understand Ricky. She was with an older man as a teen, but Ricky's Georgia victim was five.
Chapter nineteen California 1990-1991
Ricky's attempt to live normally in CA doesnt last long
Chapter twenty
The author is accepted to Harvard law school and breaks in to celebrate. She starts her work defending death penalty caes.
Chapter twenty-one
Louisiana 1991-2000
Ricky. He is back home, he is living near children and he kills Jeremy. By some accounts he thought he was killing his deceased brother Oscar. He ends up on death row
Chapter twenty-two
Louisiana 2003
The author arrives to work with lawyers against the death penalty. She sees Ricky on a video screen and is immediately reminded of her grandfather's abuse. Defending Ricky for killing Jeremy is out of the question. Learning more about him becomes a necessity
The numerous flashbacks and the intermingling of both Ricky's and the author's stories was very well done. The chapter headings of dates and places serve to move the story along, but from the beginning the murder of Jeremy has been a part of the whole.I was interested in both backgrounds and the family histories.
I too was interested in both backgrounds and how she wove the stories together was highly well down. Such raw emotions that tugged at me.
Angela: Yes, it was full of very raw emotion and it colored my feelings both during and after the time I was reading too. Re-reading to put the summaries together was almost too much. Very well done though. Angela wrote: "I too was interested in both backgrounds and how she wove the stories together was highly well down. Such raw emotions that tugged at me."
Part 1 was the setup for the story of Alexandria, Ricky and Lorelei and Jeremy. Part 2 was about the lives of all of them and how they all blended together. Definitely some dark emotional scenes here. I agree the car accident that killed Oscar and brought Ricky into the world through a most unusual way is the focal point of the story as it affected Ricky all his life and in turn affected the rest of them. What a shock it must have been for Alexandria to find out she had not only a twin brother but a sister born with them and made them triplets, but died when she was a few months old. So much tragedy in these three families and fascinating how they came together through the murder case. I find that is an intriguing aspect of the story.
Ceelee: Good callout regarding the similar and tragic childhood losses, Ricky's brother Oscar and Alexandria's triplet sister. It is an intriguing aspect of the story. Neither knew their sibling and each felt a loss that appears to have deeply impacted them.
SPOILERS WELCOME
If the first to post please briefly summarize to guide the discussion. Thanks!
Chapter 11 - 22 pages through 189