Scan barcode
A review by komet2020
We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence by Becky Cooper
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.25
One day several weeks ago, I was surfing the Net where I saw a brief mention of the January 1969 murder of a 23 year old woman who was a fiercely ambitious doctoral student in Harvard's Anthropology Department. This was a cold case that seemed to defy resolution. That made me to curious to see if perhaps there was a book that could shed more light on who this woman was and the circumstances surrounding her murder. I soon learned that such a book had been written and was available in my neighborhood library. So, it was that I came upon and read We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence.
The book's author (Becky Cooper) was a Harvard graduate who was told about the murder of Jane Britton and the mystery and silence enveloping it. This would become over the following decade an obsession by Cooper to learn all that was possible about Jane Britton, some of the people (former professors, fellow students of Britton, family, and close friends) who figured prominently in Jane's life, and to help re-open her murder case and, in the process, see it definitively resolved.
All in all, it was an interesting story. Cooper deserves to be commended for her thorough investigation and work in taking on such a complex case, which was not without its surprises. Plus, I learned a lot about how difficult it was for women during the 1960s to succeed in Harvard's Anthropology Department (which was mainly a white male, elitist domain), earn tenure, and thrive at Harvard itself. Britton's story was representative of the struggles women in academia in the U.S. had to contend with during her lifetime - be they students or professors.
The book's author (Becky Cooper) was a Harvard graduate who was told about the murder of Jane Britton and the mystery and silence enveloping it. This would become over the following decade an obsession by Cooper to learn all that was possible about Jane Britton, some of the people (former professors, fellow students of Britton, family, and close friends) who figured prominently in Jane's life, and to help re-open her murder case and, in the process, see it definitively resolved.
All in all, it was an interesting story. Cooper deserves to be commended for her thorough investigation and work in taking on such a complex case, which was not without its surprises. Plus, I learned a lot about how difficult it was for women during the 1960s to succeed in Harvard's Anthropology Department (which was mainly a white male, elitist domain), earn tenure, and thrive at Harvard itself. Britton's story was representative of the struggles women in academia in the U.S. had to contend with during her lifetime - be they students or professors.