To the Bridge
Ratings4
Average rating3.5
The case was closed, but for journalist Nancy Rommelmann, the mystery remained: What made a mother want to murder her own children? On May 23, 2009, Amanda Stott-Smith drove to the middle of the Sellwood Bridge in Portland, Oregon, and dropped her two children into the Willamette River. Forty minutes later, rescuers found the body of four-year-old Eldon. Miraculously, his seven-year-old sister, Trinity, was saved. As the public cried out for blood, Amanda was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to thirty-five years in prison. Embarking on a seven-year quest for the truth, Rommelmann traced the roots of Amanda's fury and desperation through thousands of pages of records, withheld documents, meetings with lawyers and convicts, and interviews with friends and family who felt shocked, confused, and emotionally swindled by a woman whose entire life was now defined by an unspeakable crime. At the heart of that crime: a tempestuous marriage, a family on the fast track to self-destruction, and a myriad of secrets and lies as dark and turbulent as the Willamette River.
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Received from: June Amazon Prime First ReadsRecommend for: true crime fans
I have not heard of this case or book. I was appalled as most people would be at the crime. How could someone just throw their children off of a bridge and walk away, leaving them for dead? Of course, one thinks of notable cases such as Diane Downs convicted of shooting her “kids” and Susan Smith convicted of drowning her children. It does happen and probably more frequently than most of us are aware.
I have read many true crime novels. This one wore me out with the author going back and forth continually between events and characters. The story and timeline were a mess. I am sure there is a good story here and possibly more support than Amanda received by legal entities or family and friends. I couldn't figure out where the author was going with their viewpoint. Her unedited (and often not understandable) thinking was liberally sprinkled throughout the book. I would have rather heard more from or about Amanda, more actual court transcripts, more legalities explained, and more about the psychology of the relationships and events that led up to this event.
The book did serve to make me aware of the event but not much else. The one thing that I loved and wish would happen in all true crime books is the photographs. Almost every other true crime book I have read either has no photos or the photos placed together in the middle of the book. This book (or at least the Kindle version of it) had the photos placed before or after description of them. It lent a lot to my perception of what people and places and events looked like. A+ for that part. Otherwise, I gave it two stars. I would not read again.
