We Are Not Such Things: Murder. Justice. The Search for Truth.

(Paperback)

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A MAKING A MURDERER set in South Africa - a gripping true-crime story of murder and the justice system in the shadow of apartheid
In 1993 a young white American activist called Amy Biehl was brutally murdered by a group of men in a township near Cape Town. A few years later, two of the convicted murderers were working with Amys parents at a charity set up in her memory.

After the horrors of apartheid, hope and reconciliation had triumphed.

Reviews

Gripping, explosive . . . crafts a close sense of place that rivals the work of Katherine Boo New York Times

Beautifully written and carefully observed a Truman Capote-style detective story in which Van der Leun rummages for clues through the detritus of modern South Africa Financial Times

A total page-turner, a gripping Serial-like true-crime story Vogue

Deeply researched and thought-provoking . . . an engaging take on a murder that might have derailed democracy Economist

'Unforgettable. A gripping narrative that examines the messiness of truth, the illusory nature of reconciliation, the all too often false promise of justice' Boston Globe

Extraordinary. A dense and nuanced portrait of a country whose confounding, convoluted past is never quite history Entertainment Weekly

Moving . . . necessary . . . A story of frustrated expectations, broken dreams, endemic greed and corruption, but also indomitable human spirit Minneapolis Star Tribune

A murder story told with the dramatic tension of Truman Capotes In Cold Blood and the precision of the very best non-fiction reporting. Each page bursts with fresh insights Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy

Fascinating. Shatters convenient narratives about the end of apartheid and the nature of justice, and takes readers on a headlong chase for deeper truths Jill Leovy, author of Ghettoside

A book I kept returning to. Van der Leun has a compassionate but admirably clear eye Michela Wrong, Spectator Books of the Year

Author Bio

Justine van der leun has written about South Africa for Harpers and the Guardian. She lived in Cape Town from 2011 to 2013 and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.