Can anyone forget that day in July 1992 when we heard that a young and beautiful mother had been found grotesquely slaughtered in a heavily populated place on a normal sunny summer's day. Worse was to follow, the woman had been murdered in front of her two year old child who was clinging to his mother's body when they were both found.
The last Thursday in July is Andre Hanscombe's account of his life immediately before and following that dreadful event. It is a moving account of his endeavours to ensure that his son's life is not scarred forever because of what happened.It tells of his love for Rachel Nickell, the mother who was murdered, how they met and fell in love and goes on to describe her adoration of Alex their only son.
Andre tells of the trials and tribulations he has to endure at the hands of the National Press who invade his privacy and even put Alex's life at risk by taking photographs of him and printing them in the newspapers when the murderer is still at large in the community and he is the only witness.
Because of the harrassment, Andre moves to France with Alex where they live in a farm in a tiny village where he is unknown, but even here the press harangue him and put Alex's welfare at risk again. He describes the area in France where they live and the changing scenery as they are trying to put their lives in order once more and his feelings and fear that his son will never recover from his ordeal.
This book is a shocking but beautiful and moving account of a child's intelligence. It describes how Alex remembers incidents at the time of the murder, months or even years after the event. It describes his nightmares and fears of anything that remotely reminds him of that time and Andre tells how he deals with this in an attempt to ensure that the child leads a normal life and is not permanently injured by his memories. We hear how even friends are implicated in the murder and of Andre's feelings when the case is dropped before it goes to trial.
This book is an amazing story of one man's strength during adversity. Andre takes care of Alex almost completely alone in a situation that would make most people crumble and fall apart. His depth of feeling and understanding of Alex's needs is remarkable and because of this he is able to take on Child Psychologists and Social Workers who despite being qualified,do not have insight into Alex's requirements.Happily, we hear that, to date, Alex continues to thrive despite the horrendous ordeal. He is able to speak French fluently and attends school with the local children.
This book is absolutely riveting. Andre Hanscombe is an accomplished writer who tells his tale without a trace of self pity. Despite what he has endured, Alex is a lucky child to have such a caring and loving father. It is an eye opening account into just how badly the Press can behave and indeed even how police officers are not exempt from deceipt (Andre and Alex are betrayed several times to the newspapers).There is little in the way of harrowing accounts of Rachel's murder as the book concentrates on how the father and son adapt immediately afterwards.
This is certainly a book not to be missed and I had difficulty putting it down at night. It is one I would certainly recommend to others.
Evaluate this review
How helpful would this review be to someone making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
