A review by kaileycool
The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich

3.0

Read this book on vacation in Cape Breton. It was difficult not to compare it to The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson, a similar exploration of the relationship of the individual writer to a crime she is researching. In the case of Nelson, the crime happened to someone in her family. In the case of Marzano-Lesnevich, the crime she explores is not directly related to her, but parallels the childhood abuse she endured at the hand of her grandfather. Both Nelson and ML explore the possibilities of narrative to satisfy. I find Nelson's version much more compelling in its fluidity and thematic tightness. This was a tragic and interesting read, though.