The Family Man

This story, with its wild human convulsions and its dense moral fibre, demands serious narrative muscle from its teller. James Lasdun has what it takes, and more: his final chapters are a masterclass in calm, hard reasoning. – Helen Garner
James Lasdun, one of our very best true crime documentarians, has written a riveting account of the notorious Alex Murdaugh murder trial. THE FAMILY MAN is a memorable examination of the making and enabling of a psychopath. Highly recommended. – Joyce Carol Oates
Not since Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil have I read so vividly wrought an account of the South… when the book reaches a crescendo in its stunning final chapters, the elaborate detail becomes the foundation for his chilling distillation of Alex’s crimes – Orlando Whitfield * New York Times *
The Family Man is the Truman Capote version of the Murdaugh story, a thoughtful, well-researched, and beautifully written inquiry into how and why a person comes to commit such an appalling crime…Ultimately, Lasdun finds a way to imagine how Alex committed those two murders, and the result, in the final chapter of The Family Man, is a masterful description of moral equivocation – Laura Miller * Slate *
He brings literary polish to a quest to understand the inexplicable * New York Times *
A true-life Gothic tale of moral horror that wrestles with the reality of evil and its sinister, persistent influence over one powerful family and its milieu. – Walter Kirn, author of BLOOD WILL OUT
The Family Man is a meticulous, spotlessly written, and clear-eyed journey into a distinctly American morass of wealth, privilege, and power. It’s also a morally responsible meditation on the tragedies left within the ruinous wake. James Lasdun doesn’t allow us a moment’s breath to flinch and look away. – Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of HORROR MOVIE and A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS
[An] elegant and intelligent account… Lasdun’s unwillingness to be certain about anything pays off * The Times *

James Lasdun was born in London and lives in Brooklyn. His novels, memoir, poetry, and short-story collections have won many awards. His essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, the London Review of Books, and The New Yorker, among others.

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