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A review by corinnekeener
The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts: Murder and Memory in an American City by Laura Tillman
4.0
Laura Tillman has written an incredibly compassionate book that is centered around a building in which the tragic murders of three children took place. Other authors may take the opportunity to dwell in the dark and sordid details or decry evil and monsters, but this isn't a typical true crime novel.
Tillman writes about the history, economy, and geography of the area the same way that she looks at the history of John Allen Rubio- the man on death row for the murders- his mental illness, the idea of demon posession, and religion. The effect highlights how nothing that happens or has happened occurs without context, and that things have always happened and will always happen. That doesn't take away the pain, it doesn't make the murder of three children any less tragic, but it does force us to think about what kind of world we live in and ask what kind of world we want to live in.
Should terrible crimes define an entire community?
The world is more subtle than evil and monster. And Tillman's book is about more than a terrible crime. It is about time and memory, loss and grief, confrontation and progress.
Tillman writes about the history, economy, and geography of the area the same way that she looks at the history of John Allen Rubio- the man on death row for the murders- his mental illness, the idea of demon posession, and religion. The effect highlights how nothing that happens or has happened occurs without context, and that things have always happened and will always happen. That doesn't take away the pain, it doesn't make the murder of three children any less tragic, but it does force us to think about what kind of world we live in and ask what kind of world we want to live in.
Should terrible crimes define an entire community?
The world is more subtle than evil and monster. And Tillman's book is about more than a terrible crime. It is about time and memory, loss and grief, confrontation and progress.