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The Third Rainbow Girl
The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia | Emma Copley Eisenberg
12 posts | 15 read | 13 to read
A stunningly written investigation of the murder of two young women--showing how a violent crime casts a shadow over an entire community. In the early evening of June 25, 1980 in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, two middle-class outsiders named Vicki Durian, 26, and Nancy Santomero, 19, were murdered in an isolated clearing. They were hitchhiking to a festival known as the Rainbow Gathering but never arrived; they traveled with a third woman however, who lived. For thirteen years, no one was prosecuted for the "Rainbow Murders," though deep suspicion was cast on a succession of local residents in the community, depicted as poor, dangerous, and backward. In 1993, a local farmer was convicted, only to be released when a known serial killer and diagnosed schizophrenic named Joseph Paul Franklin claimed responsibility. With the passage of time, as the truth seemed to slip away, the investigation itself caused its own traumas--turning neighbor against neighbor and confirming a fear of the violence outsiders have done to this region for centuries. Emma Copley Eisenberg spent years living in Pocahontas and re-investigating these brutal acts. Using the past and the present, she shows how this mysterious act of violence has loomed over all those affected for generations, shaping their fears, fates, and the stories they tell about themselves. In The Third Rainbow Girl, Eisenberg follows the threads of this crime through the complex history of Appalachia, forming a searing and wide-ranging portrait of America--its divisions of gender and class, and of its violence.
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Hilary427
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Pickpick

This is not your typical true crime novel…it was pretty much three different stories rolled into one. I realize this is why some people didn‘t like it, but it‘s actually why I did enjoy it!
⭐️: 3.5/5

20 likes1 stack add
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itsjustme40something
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I am still reading books that I got for free from bookcon 2019

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Addison_Reads
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Mehso-so

If you go into this expecting a true crime novel, you'll be disappointed. It's part true crime, part memoir, and part history of the area.

While I enjoyed this book, I felt that the author never brings everything together in a way to justify all the different side stories presented.

Addison_Reads #Nonfiction2022 @Riveted_Reader_Melissa #ImADisaster I'm using this for "disaster" because the process of solving this crime was a hot mess. 2y
41 likes1 comment
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Well-ReadNeck
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Pickpick

True crime with an author‘s memoir mixed in. I really enjoy nonfiction with this sort of genre mash-up (think: The Orchid Thief; The Lady from the Black Lagoon; Why Fish Don‘t Exist). I tried this a couple times in print and didn‘t get into the flow but liked enough to try again. Ultimately, finished (devoured!!) on #audiobook read by the author.

64 likes2 stack adds
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bookwrm526
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Mehso-so

This one has been on my list for a while, and maybe it was just the wrong time for it? I liked all of the stories she was telling here, and I saw how they informed each other BUT it never really gelled for me as a single narrative. Also, the middle section about the trial just really dragged the Ebone thing down for me.

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BBowling
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Panpan

Always love a well written crime story, this was not that. The author inserted herself firmly in the storytelling and became a character herself consuming half the story. A self-indulgent departure at that! The other half of the story about the murder and the trail were a hot mess in the telling. By the last chapters, that I had strained so hard to arrive to, I was skimming and wincing. Hours lost in the reading with zero reward..

GondorGirl Well, in taking this one off my to-read list. Thanks for the warning. 3y
4 likes1 comment
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bio_chem06
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I haven‘t read a true crime in a while and this one is not letting me down.

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LauraBeth
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Me: “Maybe if I download an audiobook it‘ll force me to go outside and take a walk.”

Also me: “Or I could just listen to it while doing this.”

Bookwormjillk 😻😻 3y
AlaMich You made the right choice! I‘m glad you‘re back. ☺️ 3y
PurpleyPumpkin Good call!😂 3y
See All 10 Comments
valeriegeary That is a cute puzzle ❤️ 3y
LeahBergen You chose wisely. 😉 3y
LauraBeth @Bookwormjillk I can‘t tell you how many times I‘ve had to recreate this puzzle bc of her! 3y
LauraBeth @AlaMich awww - thanks! I hope you‘ve been well! 3y
LauraBeth @PurpleyPumpkin I agree! 😂 3y
LauraBeth @valeriegeary there‘s a LOT of brown! 😂 3y
LauraBeth @LeahBergen 100% agree! 😂 3y
88 likes10 comments
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Crazeedi
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I received an early birthday present from my dear friend @Mitch
Thank you so much for this book and card (and such cute wrapping paper!!)
I've been wanting to read, especially because set in Appalachia. You made my day 🥰💗

Mitch You‘re most welcome. I hope you like it. I love the mountain feel when I read it and the author has done some really interesting interviews. Xx 3y
Crazeedi @Mitch that is exactly what I'm looking for! Cant wait to read. 3y
50 likes2 comments
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Nitpickyabouttrains
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Pickpick

Nonfiction two stories, one about two murders in a rural town that once had a hippy gathering in it and one about the author and her time in the rural area.

22 likes2 stack adds
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guinsgirlreads
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This has been in my NetGalley stack forever, and this is the second or third time I‘ve checked it out of the library 😂.. I‘m going to read it this time!

Crazeedi Oh I want to read this!! 4y
26 likes1 comment
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cariashley
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Panpan

A bit of a muddle of true crime and memoir that just didn‘t work for me. There was very little suspense and even less logic to the progression of the narrative, or maybe I just missed it. Either way, wish I‘d missed this one...

Thousand-Lives I didn‘t care for this either! 4y
cariashley @Thousand-Lives glad I‘m not alone! 4y
29 likes2 comments