by Amanda Knox
First published 2013
Amanda Knox arrives in Italy in fall 2007 with dreams of studying abroad. The twenty-year-old from Seattle moves into an apartment and begins her new life. Everything changes when her roommate Meredith Kercher is found murdered in their shared home. Amanda struggles to navigate an investigation conducted in a language she barely speaks. She becomes the primary suspect in a foreign legal system. A controversial trial results in her conviction and a twenty-six year prison sentence for murder. Amanda spends four years behind bars before an appeals court overturns the verdict. She returns to her family in America, but the legal battle continues. Drawing from diaries she kept during her time in Italy, Amanda reveals the determination required to maintain her innocence against media attacks and procedural failures. She relies on family and friends as the only constants in a system that seems designed to destroy her. Even her acquittal proves temporary when authorities announce a retrial in March 2013.
Genres: crime, biography-memoir, 21st-century, legal-thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, underdog
Setting: Italy, Seattle
Period: 2007
412 pages · Paperback · MICHEL LAFON
Content warnings: anxiety, depression