{"title":"Justine Van Der Leun","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"we-are-not-such-things-book-justine-van-der-leun-9780008191092","title":"We Are Not Such Things","description":"A MAKING A MURDERER set in South Africa  a gripping true-crime story of murder and the justice system in the shadow of apartheid","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49523305644305,"sku":"GOR009618324","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49971365118225,"sku":"GOR008613139","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53056367919377,"sku":"GOR013084112","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0008191093.jpg?v=1751446714"},{"product_id":"marcus-of-umbria-book-justine-van-der-leun-9781609611392","title":"Marcus of Umbria","description":"There, in the ancient city centre of a historic Umbrian village, she sets up house with the enticing local gardener she met on vacation only weeks earlier. 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The twenty-six-year-old white American Fulbright scholar was brutally murdered on August 25, 1993, during the final, fiery days of apartheid by a mob of young black men in a township outside Cape Town. Her parents' forgiveness of two of her killers became a symbol of the truth and reconciliation process in South Africa. Justine van der Leun decided to introduce the story to an American audience. But as she delved into the case, the prevailing narrative started to unravel. Why didn't the eyewitness reports agree on who killed Amy Biehl? Were the men convicted of the murder actually responsible for her death? And then Van der Leun discovered another brutal crime committed on the same day, in the very same area. The true story of Amy Biehl's death, it turned out, was not only a story of forgiveness but also a reflection of the complicated history of a troubled country.We Are Not Such Things is the result of Van der Leun's four-year investigation into this strange, knotted tale of injustice, violence, and compassion. The bizarre twists and turns of this case and its aftermath--and the story that emerges of what happened on that fateful day in 1993 and in the decades that followed--come together in an unsparing account of life in South Africa today. Van der Leun immerses herself in the lives of her subjects and paints a stark, moving portrait of a township and its residents. We come to understand that the issues at the heart of her investigation are universal in scope and powerful in resonance.We Are Not Such Things reveals how reconciliation is impossible without an acknowledgment of the past, a lesson as relevant to America today as to a South Africa still struggling with the long shadow of its history.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49591109517585,"sku":"GOR007690008","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0008191077.jpg?v=1751004239"},{"product_id":"marcus-of-umbria-book-justine-van-der-leun-9781605299600","title":"Marcus of Umbria","description":"Worn down by life in New York City, Justine van der Leun sublets her apartment, leaves her magazine job, and moves to Collelungo, Italy, population: 200. There, in the stone maze of a borgo, she sets up house with the handsome Italian gardener she met on vacation. This rash decision develops into an eye-opening series of adventures.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49801965633809,"sku":"CIN160529960XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50828936708369,"sku":"CIN160529960XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/160529960X.jpg?v=1751056351"},{"product_id":"we-are-not-such-things-book-justine-van-der-leun-9780812994506","title":"We Are Not Such Things","description":"\u003cb\u003eA gripping investigation in the vein of the podcast \u003ci\u003eSerial\u003c\/i\u003e--a summer nonfiction pick by \u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Justine van der Leun reopens the murder of a young American woman in South Africa, an iconic case that calls into question our understanding of truth and reconciliation, loyalty, justice, race, and class. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eTimely . . . gripping, explosive . . . the kind of obsessive forensic investigation--of the clues, and into the soul of society--that is the legacy of highbrow sleuths from Truman Capote to Janet Malcolm.\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA masterpiece of reported nonfiction . . . Justine van der Leun's account of a South African murder is destined to be a classic.--\u003ci\u003eNewsday\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The story of Amy Biehl is well known in South Africa: The twenty-six-year-old white American Fulbright scholar was brutally murdered on August 25, 1993, during the final, fiery days of apartheid by a mob of young black men in a township outside Cape Town. Her parents' forgiveness of two of her killers became a symbol of the Truth and Reconciliation process in South Africa. Justine van der Leun decided to introduce the story to an American audience. But as she delved into the case, the prevailing narrative started to unravel. Why didn't the eyewitness reports agree on who killed Amy Biehl? Were the men convicted of the murder actually responsible for her death? And then van der Leun stumbled upon another brutal crime committed on the same day, in the very same area. The true story of Amy Biehl's death, it turned out, was not only a story of forgiveness but a reflection of the complicated history of a troubled country. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eWe Are Not Such Things\u003c\/i\u003e is the result of van der Leun's four-year investigation into this strange, knotted tale of injustice, violence, and compassion. The bizarre twists and turns of this case and its aftermath--and the story that emerges of what happened on that fateful day in 1993 and in the decades that followed--come together in an unsparing account of life in South Africa today. Van der Leun immerses herself in the lives of her subjects and paints a stark, moving portrait of a township and its residents. 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She displays exquisite insights into the inner lives of those involved, the erasure of shameful histories, and the stresses of absolution without accountability.\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Moving . . . a very necessary and occasionally confounding account of a small slice of post-apartheid, post-Mandela South Africa, a country that has largely been forgotten in the international maelstrom of terrorism and mass migration. It is a story of frustrated expectations, broken dreams, endemic greed and corruption, but also indomitable human spirit, told against the backdrop of one of the world's most beautiful natural settings.\u003cb\u003e--Minneapolis \u003ci\u003eStar Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUnforgettable . . . a gripping narrative that examines the messiness of truth, the illusory nature of reconciliation,  and] the all too often false promise of justice.\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50478080098577,"sku":"CIN0812994507VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51416457838865,"sku":"CIN0812994507G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0812994507.jpg?v=1751296645"},{"product_id":"unreasonable-women-book-justine-van-der-leun-9780063241596","title":"Unreasonable Women","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChosen as a Recommended Summer Read by the \u003ci\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e and Notable New Nonfiction by \u003ci\u003eDaily Kos\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA groundbreaking account of how the legal system punishes those it purports to protect, told through the stories of three unforgettable women\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhen award-winning journalist Justine van der Leun began researching the issue of criminalized survival, she was astonished to see women being imprisoned for protecting themselves against abuse. 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