An engrossing reflection on reclaiming identity and finding peace in the aftermath of global notoriety.
Tracing a harrowing journey from criminal exoneration to inner liberation.
Twelve years after publishing her bestselling memoir, Waiting To Be Heard, Knox revisits her transformation from wrongfully accused murderer to exonerated woman. Her first book chronicled her arrest and eventual acquittal in the murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher, in Perugia, Italy. In this follow-up memoir, Knox delves deeper into the aftermath of her four years of incarceration and her ongoing quest to reclaim both her identity and inner peace in the wake of events that upended her life. Now married and raising two young children, Knox offers a compelling and often inspirational account of her effort to build a normal life while navigating the challenges of persistent public scrutiny and notoriety. “It is a road map of my personal evolution as I directly confront the existential problems I’ve faced ever since I was first arrested and charged for a terrible crime I didn't commit: Could I ever be anything more than ‘the girl accused of murder’? Would I ever be truly ‘free’?” As both a testament to resilience and an unflinching examination of trauma’s lasting impact, Knox's narrative evolves from personal healing to advocacy for criminal justice reform, leading her to form meaningful connections with others shaped by media scrutiny—including Lorena Bobbitt and more notably Monica Lewinsky, in what she calls “The Sisterhood of Ill Repute.” Perhaps more remarkably, her path toward reconciliation leads her back to Perugia in 2019, where she spoke at an Italy Innocence Project conference and initiated correspondence with her former prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini, “whose actions had derailed my life.” Their unexpected connection and eventual understanding become a powerful symbol of Knox’s hard-won spiritual freedom, demonstrating how even the deepest wounds can transform into a means for redemption.
An engrossing reflection on reclaiming identity and finding peace in the aftermath of global notoriety.Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9781538770719
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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