Welcome to Litsy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ I looked for a book on this case after listening to Elliot Page discuss playing Sylvia in the film “An American Crime” in his memoir. Gertrude Baniszewski was an absolute monster, starving and physically abusing two sisters she took in. Oddly, the violence became normalized among those who frequented the home and neighborhood, and many participated. How no one helped is baffling. Sylvia ultimately died. An incredibly difficult read.

This is the fifth in my crazy bitches true crime series. This woman was, by far, the most mentally unstable and evil of all. The book was very well written but so disturbing I had to skim sections when it became too much. It is NOT for the faint of heart. Trigger warnings for anything you can think of related to child abuse. As someone who works in child welfare, however, it is an important story that allows the voiceless to be heard. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Where do I start?...
This book details the torture of the Likens sisters, and murder of Sylvia Likens, at the hands of Gertrude Baniszewski and her children and other youths.
The subject matter is obviously very grim, but one of the major issues I have with this book is that lengthy conversations between Gertrude and Sylvia are detailed, yet Sylvia died and Gertrude never confessed to most of her crimes. So how does the author know what was said?