Under the Bridge: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk

(Paperback)

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'Both tragic and cathartic' New York Times

British Columbia, 1997.

Under the Bridge traces the events surrounding the 1997 murder of fourteen-year-old Reena Virk by eight of her peers, in an account based on six years of research and interviews with the accused that offers insight into the social tensions that provoked the crime and the minds of teenage killers. By the author of The Torn Skirt.

PRAISE FOR UNDER THE BRIDGE

'A tour-de-force of true crime reportage' Kirkus Reviews

'A swift, harrowing classic' Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation

'Mixes novelistic suspense with a journalist's key eye for detail' Bustle

'Hypnotic, obsessive, wonderfully transformative' John Guare, author of Six Degrees of Separation

Reviews

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 principals 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 *

Author Bio

Rebecca Godfrey was an award-winning novelist and journalist. Her first novel, The Torn Skirt, was a national bestseller and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Under The Bridge received one of Canada's largest literary awards, the British Columbia Award for Canadian Nonfiction, as well as the Arthur Ellis Award for Excellence in Crime Writing. She held an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, and received fellowships from Yaddo and The MacDowell Colony. She taught writing at Columbia University, and lived with her family in upstate New York. She died in 2022.