What Happened to Paula: On the Death of an American Girl
- Downloads：3818
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-21 20:31:12
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Katherine Dykstra
- ISBN：0393651983
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
In July 1970， eighteen-year-old Paula Oberbroeckling left her house in Cedar Rapids， Iowa， and never returned。 A cold case for fifty years， Paula’s story had been largely forgotten when Katherine Dykstra began looking for answers。 A woman was dead。 Why had no one been held responsible？ How could a community give up and move on？ Could there ever be justice for Paula？
Tracing the knowns and unknowns， Dykstra discovers a girl who was hemmed in by the culture of the late 1960s， when women’s rights had been brought to the fore but had little practical bearing on actual lives。 The more she learns about Paula， the more parallels Dykstra finds in the lives of the women who knew Paula， the lives of the women in her own family， and even in her own life。
Captivating and expertly crafted， What Happened to Paula is a timely， powerful look at gender， autonomy， and the cost of being a woman。
Tracing the knowns and unknowns， Dykstra discovers a girl who was hemmed in by the culture of the late 1960s， when women’s rights had been brought to the fore but had little practical bearing on actual lives。 The more she learns about Paula， the more parallels Dykstra finds in the lives of the women who knew Paula， the lives of the women in her own family， and even in her own life。
Captivating and expertly crafted， What Happened to Paula is a timely， powerful look at gender， autonomy， and the cost of being a woman。
Reviews
Catherine Yezak
，
An excellent insight into why women become victims of crime and how society needs to rethink their concepts of interpreting violence。
Sarah Copeland
，
The death of a girl， American or otherwise， is a topic I would normally avoid， as are several of the subjects covered in this excellently crafted book。 But Dykstra approaches ideas and themes that effect all women， in this country especially， with such skill， heart and rich storytelling that I was immediately invested。 I learned about myself， our nation， our justice system， and--Paula （who represents so many women who are publicly invisible， but need our immediate attention）。 These are stories a The death of a girl， American or otherwise， is a topic I would normally avoid， as are several of the subjects covered in this excellently crafted book。 But Dykstra approaches ideas and themes that effect all women， in this country especially， with such skill， heart and rich storytelling that I was immediately invested。 I learned about myself， our nation， our justice system， and--Paula （who represents so many women who are publicly invisible， but need our immediate attention）。 These are stories and revelations I will never forget。 A must read for women， mothers， teachers， lawmakers， activists--and anyone who considers themselves invested in social justice。 I finished in two days and I'll be reading it again， soon。 。。。more
Valerity （Val）
，
Rather than a straight up true crime story， the author tends to make a sociology study of the time and situation。 Well researched and written， yet I had trouble staying engaged at times。 After finishing， I felt foggy about the story， rather than enriched。 But that could just be me， most likely。 Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley， author Katherine Dykstra， and the publisher。
Keisha
，
This book really disappointed me。 I was so enthralled by the synopsis and completely let down by the book。 There was to much unnecessary filler and not enough about the actual case itself。 I wanted an in-depth look at the story， the investigation and I was instead met with painstakingly boring filler about everything but。 I’m critical of true crime books because I expect more about the victims than the authors or other people involved and it’s rare to find that。
Julia Dahl
，
This impressive， important book is both a deeply reported true crime investigation and a feminist cri de couer。 It also reads like a thriller。 Katherine Dykstra is a wildly talented writer。 I loved it。
Laurel
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