Under the Bridge [Hardcover]

Rebecca Godfrey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 2005

Who were the seemingly ordinary teenagers who beat and killed a girl who longed to be their friend? And how could they hide the murder from their parents and teachers and the police for eight days?

Drawing on six years of research -- including interviews with the accused -- acclaimed writer Rebecca Godfrey answers these questions in this stunning account of the notorious "Schoolgirl Murder." Through a skillful blend of hard journalism and riveting narrative, Godfrey takes us into the bedrooms and classrooms of a powerful hip-hop-obsessed clique and the loner-victim who just wanted to belong, then into the police stations and courtrooms where adults -- grieving, devastated -- must reckon with the shocking crime. Highlighting along the way the deeply entrenched social tensions that provoked the murder, Under the Bridge is more than a true-crime book -- it is an unforgettable wake-up call.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With a gripping journalistic style, novelist Godfrey (The Torn Skirt) recounts the story behind a horrific murder in a small British Columbia town. One November night in 1997, 14-year-old Reena Virk was savagely beaten and drowned under a waterway bridge. From a small East Indian community, Reena was alienated from her family and spent her time desperately trying to find a place with a tough crowd of teenagers, several of whom had been in trouble with the law. But one of the girls held a grudge against her, and Reena apparently was lured to her violent end by a promise of friendship. Seven girls and one boy initially were charged with assault. Two were convicted of murder: Warren Glowatski, now serving a life sentence, and Kelly Ellard, who was found guilty in 2005 after three trials. Godfrey is careful not to make judgments, but her informed writing reveals a remorseful Warren, an unrepentant Kelly (who denies her guilt) and other psychologically damaged members of the group, sharply etched, whose casual brutality, enabled by drug use, led to a brutal and senseless death. Godfrey's account contains some recreated dialogue but overall is meticulously researched and harrowing to read. B&W photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Godfrey approaches a brutal crime in an unlikely spot the way a novelist would, by tracing, first of all, how the victim and persecutors came to be in that place, through all the tangled byroads of families seeking a better life. In November 1997, the body of a 14-year-old girl, whose family had emigrated from India, was found in the waters off Victoria Island in British Columbia. The victim, Reena Virk, had been beaten to death. Seven girls and one boy, all high-schoolers, were charged with the crime. Godfrey follows the case from discovery through verdict at trial, seeking to answer the one question the trial testimony could not: Why did a gang of mostly well-off teens commit casual murder? Her interviews with all the principals, ranging from the police scuba team that found the body through prosecution and defense attorneys, suburban families, teachers, and the accused themselves, bring this case disturbingly alive. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st ed edition (September 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743210913
• ISBN-13: 978-0743210911
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #990,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping Read, October 15, 2005

By 

K. Reed - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Under the Bridge (Hardcover)

This book was incredible. To use an accurate cliche, I couldn't put it down. As I read, I felt as though I came to know each "character", and while I definitely didn't like each one, I felt as though the author was presenting me with an understanding of their separate motivations. Godfrey managed to weave together a complex subject involving more than two dozen people, a confusing night, a morass of lies and gossip and denial, somehow bringing it all into the light. I kept wondering how long she'd had to research, and how many people she must have interviewed during the course of the writing. Godfrey writes of jealousy, love, vanity, fear, violence, and tragedy in an understandable way. She also keeps the reader in suspense, revealing each bit of this real-life plot slowly so the reader experiences the tension, uncertainity, and need to know that many of the (unfortunate) real-life particpants must also have felt.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Night of the Russian Satellite..., February 25, 2007

By 

sara (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under the Bridge (Mass Market Paperback)

This really was such a good book. As others have said, I really never wanted to put it down. I find there is a lack of information on what happened to Reena Virk, and any searching results mainly with focus on the trials of Kelly Ellard. This book provided not only details on the sad crime itself, but insight into Reena, her family, and all of the other teenagers who either participated in or witnessed her death. I was most surprised in the kind and strangely forgiving nature of the Virk family.

I really enjoyed Godfrey's writing style; the book did read like a novel, and you can definitely tell she has done her research and created a very detailed and realistic outline of what happened. From small details, like one girl's use of Nivea cream and Reena's eagerness to share her favourite songs with a member of her family, to the prosecutors and defense lawyers as well as frustrated police trying to deal with scared and angry young teenagers, every character and situation was "brought to life", as cheesy as it sounds.

Again, it is difficult to find much information on the Reena Virk case, and this book is perfect for anyone wishing to know the story and the people, as confused and confusing as they seem to be. It's one of the best "true-crime" books I've read, and it contains vivid insights into the awkward, gossipy and, in this case, often cruel world created by these young teenagers.

Being bullied, wanting to fit in, wanting your peers to view you in a certain way are all things that people of this age feel and experience, and Godfrey effectively captures that atmosphere in this book. The only hollow part is the question that even those convicted of the crime can't answer: why this horrendous crime happened, committed by people so young.

Beautifully done, in my opinion.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, October 17, 2005

By 

Andie (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under the Bridge (Hardcover)

I am also a reader who couldn't put this book down, which hasn't happened to me in a long time. I credit Rebecca's writing for pulling the reader right into the case, so much so that I was left feeling deeply emotional about the whole thing. I am grateful that this book exists, it adds an extra dimension to the sound bites we've seen in the media-- but most importantly, it honours Reena's memory.