The Fatal Gift of Beauty

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A compelling true-crime tale (Elle) from an awardwinning journalist abouta murder in Italy andthe controversial prosecution conviction and twenty-six-year sentencing of Amanda Knoxfeaturing a new epilogueClear-eyed sweeping honest and tough . . . This is what long-form journalism is all about.Tim Egan author of The Worst Hard TimeThe sexually violent murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia Italy became a media sensation when Kerchers housemate Seattle native Amanda Knox and her Italian boyfriend were arrested and charged with the murder. The story drew an international cult obsessed with Foxy Knoxy a pretty honor student on a junior year abroad who either woke up one morning into a nightmare of superstition and misogynythe dark side of Italyor participated in something unspeakable.The Fatal Gift of Beauty is Nina Burleighs literary investigation of the murder the prosecution and the conviction and twenty-six-year sentence of Knox. But it is also a thoughtful compelling examination of an enduring mystery an ancient storied place and a disquieting facet of Italian culture: an obsession with female sexuality.