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A review by jenstarkey
Sharon Tate: A Life by Ed Sanders
2.0
Thank you to Da Capo Press, Perseus Books Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!
One of the most upsetting things I have ever read is the recounting of the murder of Sharon Tate, with her killers sharing that she begged to stay alive long enough to have her baby (due to be born in just two short weeks), offering herself as a hostage, and crying “Mother, Mother…” as she was stabbed to death. Could anything be more horrifying? Could anything be more heartrending than this young woman, pleading for a shred of mercy for herself and her unborn child?
And she was given none. Even by the press in the wake of her death, Sharon was treated like a beauty queen, not a person. As her husband said to journalists, “Yes, Sharon was beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful woman in the world. But did you ever write how good she was?
I was hoping to find a glimpse of this Sharon in E Sanders’ biography. However, I’m sad to say I didn’t. The book offers brief glimmers of the Sharon that friends and family knew, but unfortunately it’s mainly a rambling ode to Hollywood gossip, the 1960s, Roman Polanski and his relationship with Sharon and of course, the Manson Family murders of Tate and her friends.
Perhaps I was expecting too much. After all, nothing will bring Sharon back to tell her own story. Nothing will ever fill that gaping ocean of grief and never-to-be-knowns. But still, I wish. I wish to know something of that woman so many people loved.
One of the most upsetting things I have ever read is the recounting of the murder of Sharon Tate, with her killers sharing that she begged to stay alive long enough to have her baby (due to be born in just two short weeks), offering herself as a hostage, and crying “Mother, Mother…” as she was stabbed to death. Could anything be more horrifying? Could anything be more heartrending than this young woman, pleading for a shred of mercy for herself and her unborn child?
And she was given none. Even by the press in the wake of her death, Sharon was treated like a beauty queen, not a person. As her husband said to journalists, “Yes, Sharon was beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful woman in the world. But did you ever write how good she was?
I was hoping to find a glimpse of this Sharon in E Sanders’ biography. However, I’m sad to say I didn’t. The book offers brief glimmers of the Sharon that friends and family knew, but unfortunately it’s mainly a rambling ode to Hollywood gossip, the 1960s, Roman Polanski and his relationship with Sharon and of course, the Manson Family murders of Tate and her friends.
Perhaps I was expecting too much. After all, nothing will bring Sharon back to tell her own story. Nothing will ever fill that gaping ocean of grief and never-to-be-knowns. But still, I wish. I wish to know something of that woman so many people loved.