Evil Angels

by John Bryson

Book Overview

The basis for the Meryl Streep film A Cry in the Dark: The dramatic true story of a mother's worst nightmare and the murder trial that shocked Australia. On a camping trip at Ayer's Rock, the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671631632
• ISBN13: 9780671631635
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Summit Books
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A hate crime against one family

I was a young child in Primary School when baby Azaria got taken by the Dingo, but even now 25 years on, I still remember the debates on whether Lindy Chamberlain was innocent or guilty. Comments such as "she looks too emotionally cold for a woman who has just lost her baby" and the speculation that because Azaria had a black dress in her wardrobe, her parents must have been invoved in sacrificial rituals, because who would dress a baby in black? What occurred at the time was a media sensation that used peoples fear of the uncommon (ie. a little known religion "the seventh day adventists) and used it to sell their magazines, newspapers or boost their television ratings. The media have a lot to answer for, as do the Northern Territory Police whose shoddy investigative methods and conclusions led to a Nation wide hate crime against a family who were going through one of the most difficult experiences a family can face, the loss of a child. Evil Angels is a factual and non-biased account (despite my afore mentioned feeling on the matter) about the events leading up to the dissapearance of Azaria Chamberlain and the investigation, media frenzy and court trial that occurred afterwards. It is a long book, but very interesting and tragic. I highly recommend this book.

Classic

This is a classic in not only telling the story of the Chamberlains, particularly Lindy, the mother whose baby was taken by a dingo 20 years ago, but also about how people can be caught up in a maelstrom of media scrutiny.I remember the events so well, and, like the rest of Australia, watched them unfold year by year.The Northern territory government and the media have a lot to answer for. The NT remains a backwater of injustice to this day - most often directed towards Aborigines, but also, as demonstrated here, with invective directed towards another group outside the conventional mainstream.The media reported in the most outrageously biased and one-sided fashion, and actually whipped up the populous into a frenzy of finger-pointing, gossiping hatred toward Mrs Chamberlain. I am not at all religious, but to my mind Seventh Day Adventism doesn't even sit far outside the mainstream Christian tradition, yet we were encouraged to believe it was some sort of devil-worshipping Jim Jones type sect. Eventually the government was forced to recognise the veracity of the Chamberlain's story. ironically, another person died on The Rock for the essential clue to be discovered - a tourist fell off and his body was found near the baby's matinee jacket. It is almost beyond belief the lengths the authorities went to to balme the parents, when most of the people closest to the event on that night verified or supported the Chamberlain's case. Yet those voices were drowned out for years.Bryson did a wonderful job of bringing this story to public atttention,and some of the most important parts were effectively translated to the screen in the Meryl Streep movie (Cry In The Dark).