The Fact of a Body

'Part memoir, part true crime, wholly brilliant' – Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train

'As gripping as a thriller' - Literary Review

When law student Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich is asked to work on a death-row hearing for convicted murderer and child molester Ricky Langley, she finds herself thrust into the tangled story of his childhood. As she digs deeper and deeper into the case she realizes that, despite their vastly different circumstances, something in his story is unsettlingly, uncannily familiar.

The Fact of a Body is both an enthralling memoir and a groundbreaking, heart-stopping investigation into how the law is personal, composed of individual stories, and proof that arriving at the truth is more complicated, and powerful, than we could ever imagine.

Winner of a Lambda Literary Award and the Chautauqua Prize

'This book is a marvel' - Celeste Ng, New York Times bestselling author of Our Missing Hearts

'Gripping and fascinating' - Sophie Hannah, author of The Couple at the Table