Rebecca Godfrey (1967-2022) was an award-winning novelist and journalist. Her books include The Torn Skirt, finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and the award-winning true-crime story Under the Bridge, adapted as a Hulu limited series starring Riley Keough as Rebecca Godfrey. Godfrey earned her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and taught writing at Columbia University. She lived with her husband and daughter in upstate New York.
A swift, harrowing classic perfect for these unnerving times -- Jenny Offill, author of DEPT. OF SPECULATION Dreamy, mysterious and ultimately terrifying -- Megan Abbott, author of DARE ME A modern day Crime and Punishment that keeps you on the edge of your seat. A stunning book that manages to terrify and enlighten at the same time. I reread it on a regular basis to remind myself what the best, most empathetic crime journalist can be like -- Gary Shteyngart, author of LAKE SUCCESS A brilliant, compassionate retelling of a horrific murder * O, the Oprah Magazine * Both tragic and cathartic * New York Times * Lipstick, platform shoes, and braces have never felt more menacing. The book reads like a breezy bestseller, but it's Godfrey's in-depth reporting that gets under your skin * GQ * Godfrey skillfully blends hard-nosed journalism with a literary lyricism that far and away transcends that of her true-crime colleagues * Elle.com * Godfrey, who mixes novelistic suspense with a journalist's key eye for detail, does a terrific job of presenting the facts and letting readers decide how to judge the accused * Bustle * A tour-de-force of true crime reportage. Godfrey reconstructs a horrific murder with a vividness found in the finest fiction, without ever sacrificing journalistic integrity * Kirkus Reviews * Hypnotic, obsessive, wonderfully transformative -- John Guare, author of SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION Under the Bridge is a fine piece of reportage and a shocking rendering of the tragic end of one young life and the dark and sinister beginnings of others. Godfrey writes with stinging insight and an urgency that moves the story from teenage hush and whisper to the reality of the coroner's office and sad, fatigued cops. The prinĀcipals are all victims - of schools and communities and families that don't care - and perpetrators - harming one another and themselves in this startling fall from innocence -- Anthony Swofford, author of JARHEAD Haunting . . . phenomenal cinematic raw material * Hollywood Reporter *