The book The Fact of a Body is the story of Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich who is an opponent of the death penalty. At least until the day her path crosses that of a killer, Rick Langley imprisoned in Louisiana. His confession terrifies her and shakes all her convictions. For her, there is no doubt: this man must be executed. Overwhelmed by this visceral reaction, Alexandria will then tirelessly investigate the underlying reasons that led Langley to commit this appalling crime.
I found this book really interesting because the author deals with something unusual without hiding anything. Furthermore the book gives us some knowledge of the law and makes us wonder of what can be justified. We can also see directly the links between the author’s story and Ricky’s story. Due to a thin plot, everyone can understand how a crime or a misdemeanour could be forgiven or understand. In fact it all depends on the past, on the point of view.
On the other hand, this book is quite complex because of many flashbacks, many changes in the time line and the complicated family story connected to the killer’s. In addition, some of the chapters are pretty verbose, which is why I found the book a bit long.
All things considered I can say that The Fact of a Body is a powerful and fascinating story about a woman lost in her past between darkness, memories, and the story of a murderer. I also liked this book because the story is different from what we usually read in high school. I think too, that it’s a good book to read during lock-down times and I would advise it to someone who likes sobering novels, and loves complicated stories connected to other ones.
BREVET Marie, 1GE3
Lycée Edgar Quinet