The Fatal Gift of Beauty Paperback by Nina Burleigh

Product Details

• Publisher: Crown (2012-07-10)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 368 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780307588593
• Item Weight: 348.71 grams
• Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 cm

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A compelling true-crime tale” (Elle) from an award-winning journalist about a murder in Italy and the controversial prosecution, wrongful conviction, and yearslong sentencing of Amanda Knox—featuring a new epilogue

“Clear-eyed, sweeping, honest, and tough . . . This is what long-form journalism is all about.”—Tim Egan, author of The Worst Hard Time

The sexually violent murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, became a media sensation when Kercher’s housemate, Seattle native Amanda Knox, and her Italian boyfriend were arrested and charged with the murder. The story drew an international cult obsessed with “Foxy Knoxy,” a pretty honor student on a junior year abroad, who either woke up one morning into a nightmare of superstition and misogyny—the dark side of Italy—or participated in something unspeakable.

The Fatal Gift of Beauty is Nina Burleigh’s literary investigation of the murder, the prosecution, and the conviction and twenty-six-year sentence of Knox. But it is also a thoughtful, compelling examination of an enduring mystery, an ancient, storied place, and a disquieting facet of Italian culture: an obsession with female sexuality.

About the Author

Nina Burleigh is the author of Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed, and Forgery in the Holy Land, A Very Private Woman: The Life and Unsolved Murder of Presidential Mistress Mary Meyer, and two other books. She has written for the New York Times, The New Yorker, and Time and is a contributing editor at Elle. She has resided in France, Italy, and the Middle East and now lives in New York.