He could really write, Dominick Dunne, couldn't he? I know this was a fictionalised account of the Skakel murder of Martha Moxley, I know the Bradleys were the Kennedys, but still it read, at least in the initial chapters like Waugh's Brideshead. The same shining scion and his shadow, poor but in love and literate. The same feeling of anything was possible, morality was unimportant compared to riches. All that and they were Catholic too. I advertised for a part-time clerk today. The first person to turn up was an 18 year old, she was totally unsuitable being the granddaughter of a billionaire and although she was familiar with a broom, less so with a squeegee for cleaning windows. She had given up school and been riding professionally for three years and thought she might want to be a forensic psychologist although she hadn't actually graduated from school. That didn't matter because her father could apparently get her in to college although she didn't think she could cope with the exams. The rich are really different, really really different. (She was very nice and I enjoyed chatting to her, especially when she said she preferred real books to a Kindle and bought $89 worth.) The first time I read this book was back in 2002 and (owing to age-related memory loss, can't find keys, remember whatisname's name etc) I didn't realise that I had read it when I listened to it today. Just had that nagging deja vous feeling, then I check my book list and I find I'd read it. Does anyone else do that? If so are you all over 42? (view spoiler)[(The age when the need for reading glasses can no longer be denied. I'm 42. Have been for a while...) (hide spoiler)]
Heard this book is a fiction story based on the 1975 Martha Moxley murder in Greenwich. That story always fascinated and scared me because I was a teen during that time and realized it could of happened to someone I knew!The book got off to a slow start, but then the character development and intertwining of the years and lives became very interesting and fascinating. Dunne portrayed the character relationships very well. You wanted to love the Bradleys for their money, power and outwardly perfect life, but you knew they were scoundrals and did not deserve the limelight they received. Harrison Burns was from Ansonia so it was fun to see your home town mentioned although it alluded to the his poorness and ranking below the Bradley clan power. If you like to read about the rich, famous, murder and American dreams, you will greatly enjoy this book!
What do You think about A Season In Purgatory (1998)?
This book takes a good look at how the wealthy and powerful can get into trouble and come out unscathed. It also shows how some people have their futures mapped out for them with trust funds and high ambitions. One of the most fascinating aspects of this book is how people with enough money and enough charisma can worm their way out of any situation, whether it's something as simple as a parking ticket or a as complex and drastic as a murder. This book is not only great fiction, but it is also a striking commentary on our society as a whole. You see people get away with awful things just as they do in our society, such as murdering a young wife and her friend or fleeing the scene of a drowning and covering it with money.
—Stephen Schnabel
Reading this book got me in the mood for Revenge when it comes back on tv in a few days. It has that Hamptons, Grayson feel about it where the rich get away with everything, and the strong patriarch keeps a firm hand on all that happens and who the children turn out to be. It lagged a little in the middle where it became extremely dull reading, the struggle between doing whats right and whats convenient was a little on the slow side, and Constant became a little two dimensional. I rarely felt the charm and charisma that the book was trying to sell him as, mainly because we didn't get to hear enough from him in order to have that happen. Overall it was an ok read, and most would find it agreeable.
—Melinda Elizabeth
This was a fictional account of the Martha Moxley Murder. Several other nonfiction books have been written about the same case .I learned a lot more by reading this one ,as Dominick Dunne was such a good writer , he made it all the more interesting . Martha was a beautiful teen girl with long golden hair . She was beaten to death and found under a pine tree near her home the next morning . A famous family started to be the focus of the police investigation, who happened to be close neighbors to Martha. Many years went by , with no arrests, but about 30 years later, her killer was supposedly brought to justice, I've read all I could find on this one, and I think they put the wrong guy in jail, but maybe the real story will never be known ?
—Julie
