A stunningly written investigation of the murder of two young women--showing how a violent crime casts a shadow over an entire community. In the early evening of June 25, 1980 in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, two middle-class outsiders named Vicki Durian, 26, and Nancy Santomero, 19, were murdered in an isolated clearing. They were hitchhiking to a festival known as the Rainbow Gathering but never arrived. For thirteen years, no one was prosecuted for the "Rainbow Murders," though deep suspicion was cast on a succession of local residents in the community, depicted as poor, dangerous, and backward. In 1993, a local farmer was convicted, only to be released when a known serial killer and diagnosed schizophrenic named Joseph Paul Franklin claimed responsibility. With the passage of time, as the truth seemed to slip away, the investigation itself caused its own traumas-turning neighbor against neighbor and confirming a fear of the violence outsiders have done to this region for centuries. Emma Copley Eisenberg spent years living in Pocahontas and re-investigating these brutal acts. Using the past and the present, she shows how this mysterious act of violence has loomed over all those affected for generations, shaping their fears, fates, and the stories they tell about themselves. In The Third Rainbow Girl, Eisenberg follows the threads of this crime through the complex history of Appalachia, forming a searing and wide-ranging portrait of America-its divisions of gender and class, and of its violence.

Apple Books, "Best Books of January" Amazon, "Best Books of January 2020" in Nonfiction and History Amazon, "10 Best Mysteries & Thrillers of the Month" Indie Next Pick for February 2020 O Magazine, " 16 of the Best Books to Read this January!" Electric Lit, "20 Most Anticipated Debuts of Early 2020" The Millions, "Most Anticipated: The Great First-Half 2020 Book Preview! " Library Journal, "Editors' Fall Picks for 2019" Publishers Weekly, "New True Crime Books 2019-2020"
Southern Independent Bookseller Association, "Okra Pick for Winter 2020" SheReads, "Most Anticipated Memoirs of 2020" Esquire, "The Best Books to Elevate Your Reading List in 2020"