To the Bridge

A True Story of Motherhood and Murder

De: Nancy Rommelmann

Narrado por: Nancy Rommelmann

The case was closed, but for journalist Nancy Rommelmann, the mystery remained: What made a mother want to murder her own children?

On May 23, 2009, Amanda Stott-Smith drove to the middle of the Sellwood Bridge in Portland, Oregon, and dropped her two children into the Willamette River. Forty minutes later, rescuers found the body of four-year-old Eldon. Miraculously, his seven-year-old sister, Trinity, was saved. As the public cried out for blood, Amanda was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to thirty-five years in prison.

Embarking on a seven-year quest for the truth, Rommelmann traced the roots of Amanda’s fury and desperation through thousands of pages of records, withheld documents, meetings with lawyers and convicts, and interviews with friends and family who felt shocked, confused, and emotionally swindled by a woman whose entire life was now defined by an unspeakable crime. At the heart of that crime: a tempestuous marriage, a family on the fast track to self-destruction, and a myriad of secrets and lies as dark and turbulent as the Willamette River.

Excerpt from Day Out of Days: Stories, by Sam Shepard, © 2010 by Sam Shepard. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Excerpt from Netherland: A Novel, by Joseph O’Neill, © 2008 by Joseph O’Neill. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Excerpt from Iphigenia in Forest Hills, by Janet Malcolm, © 2011 by Janet Malcolm. Used by permission of Yale University Press. Excerpt from Down City, by Leah Carroll, © 2017 by Leah Carroll. Used by permission of Hachette Book Group USA.

©2018 Nancy Rommelmann (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

JUST SAD

These "moms" who kill their children need to DIE, go to death row quickly and get out of this world. I lost my 34 yr. old son in 2015 and I am devastated and will be till I die.

Different than expected

This book never really delved into the reasons of why a woman would kill her children - I was hoping for a big reveal but never got one

Very interesting!

I remember the news when it happened. Very interesting to hear all the story from beginning to end and not just the outcome. I enjoy the author's perspective on that we can annoys these things I'd we can understand them.

Audio Inappropriate

As a lifetime Portlander, I wanted to hear this story. I can no longer read print so looked forward to the audible version. However, even after slowing it down, the words were those of a high school girl chewing gum. This was by far the worst Audible book out of the 600+ I have listened to.

Difficult subject matter; not a fan of the writing style nor narration

This book was very well researched. It’s clear the author put her heart and soul into it, over many years.

The subject matter is difficult, period.

I didn’t like the book for a few reasons. First, it excessively & unnecessarily jumps back and forth in time and across characters. Second, the author inserts too much of her opinion & value judgments throughout, which, in my mind, detracts from her storytelling.

It took me about an hour to get used to the narrator (the author). She had an uneven speaking style, often rushing through parts of the sentence. While I usually prefer the author as the narrator, in this case it detracts from her writing.

I wish authors would not try to narrate their books.....

The distracting, stilted narration by the author of her own work not only made it painful to listen to but also made me wonder whether she had ever even tried reading aloud before. Who on earth allowed her to go through with this???

Sad

I wish Amanda would have interviewed with the Author, because I was left feeling empty. my heart ached for all 3 kids.

brings some explanation to an incomprehensible act

It was pretty good. its a true crime novel. was disappointed there was no interview with the murderer.

Ok...not really for me

story jumps around a lot. gets confusing at times. at times wasn't really sure what was going on.

Great book, but don’t like the narrating.

I am really enjoying the book and the story. It’s clear she’s done her research and I have a hard time stopping when I have to get out of my car. But the narrating is weird. She has awkward pauses that just don’t make sense and off timing when she speaks. It’s taken a while to get used to that, I find it hard to focus on the book because I’m focusing on the odd pacing and pauses. But overall a great book - and very sad story.