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Restless Souls: The Sharon Tate Family's Account of Stardom, the Manson Murders, and a Crusade for Justice
Restless Souls is the true, bone-chilling chronicle of the Manson Family murders and its aftermath, from the point of view of the victims’ families.When actress Sharon Tate and four others were brutally murdered by Charles Manson and his followers, the world was shocked. More than forty years later, the gruesome barbarity of the “Manson Family” still fascinates and horrifies.This true crime memoir by Alisa Statman, a 20-year Tate family friend, and Brie Tate, the daughter of Sharon Tate’s niece, includes interviews with the Tate family, accounts from personal letters, tape recordings, home movies, and private diaries.Complete with color photographs and personal insights, Restless Souls is the most revealing, riveting, and emotionally raw account of the gruesome slayings, the hunt and capture of the killers, and the behind-the-scenes drama of their trials, as well as a touching view of the torment that the victims families’ have endured for years after such tragedy.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 21, 2012
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April 6, 2015Sharon Tate’s sister, Debra, has released a statement about this book, alleging that its author, Alisa Statman, doctored a memoir written by the Tate patriarch, Paul, included in Restless Souls. Sharon Tate is the most famous victim of the so-called Manson Family, and Restless Souls is primarily about the aftermath of Sharon’s murder, with interwoven accounts from Paul Tate, a career military man who launched his own investigation into the case; his wife, Doris, who devoted her last years to keeping Sharon’s killers incarcerated; his youngest daughter, Patti, who took up Doris’s cause after Doris died; and Patti’s daughter, Brie, who was born more than two decades after Sharon's death, yet professes an affinity with Aunt Sharon that she never felt with Aunt Debra, the middle Tate child. It's clear that Brie's remarks in Restless Souls have been edited, if not ghostwritten, with the same purple pen that colored Paul Tate’s memoir, as well as the (until now) unpublished memoirs of Doris and Patti Tate, and the purple ink on Alisa Statman’s hands would be conspicuous even without Debra Tate’s accusations. Statman was Patti Tate’s domestic partner, her de-facto widow, and, it would seem, is Debra Tate’s rival as the guardian of the Tate family legacy, and Debra has been all but completely erased, Soviet-style, from Restless Souls.
Debra is a controversial figure among Mansonologists, frequently denounced as a liar, and worse, on the many websites and message boards devoted to the Manson case. Nor is Statman without her detractors. To her hear her tell it (though she doesn’t tell it in Restless Souls), she just happened to move into the guest house at the former residence of Sharon Tate, similar to the way Trent Reznor just happened to move into main house with no idea as to what had taken place there in August 1969. Murder? Really? You're putting me on! An aspiring filmmaker, Statman subsequently worked with unhinged Mansonologist Bill Nelson on a documentary about the case, during the course of which she liberated (that is, stole) some photos of Sharon from a retired LAPD detective and altruistically returned them to the Tate family. Soon she was living with the appreciative Tates, eventually becoming Patti’s lover and taking over the Tate house after Patti died and Paul moved out of state not long before he, too, died.
This scenario calls to mind the kind of Blakean specter seen in Joseph Losey’s 1963 film The Servant, in which the title character slowly assumes possession of his employer and the employer’s estate. The Servant was written by Harold Pinter, whose work often features interlopers, sometimes insidious, sometimes innocent. Statman, of course, claims innocence, and she’s known to post plaintive messages on Manson-case websites when her motives are questioned. To give her the benefit of the doubt, she may have begun as just another Mansonologist and found herself genuinely loving the Tates after contriving a means of ingratiating herself with them. Only she knows for certain, unless, through denial or rationalization or both, she’s converted fact into fiction.
Restless Souls, ostensibly fact, reads like fiction, and not in a good way. Statman never tells when she can show—clumsily—per Mark Twain’s instruction to writers. She dramatizes everything, turning memories into movielike scenes with “payoffs,” while editing, or ghostwriting, in the guises of the various Tates, all of whom express themselves identically—that is, like amateur novelists who want badly to write "well" and so opt for pretty words and fancy phrasings instead of the plain and humble ones more in keeping with the book’s subject.
Patti Tate (and/or Statman) writes: “An errant storm front edged its way inland from the coastline with low-slung clouds brooding well below my bird’s-eye view from the Holy Cross Cemetery.”
Brie Tate (and/or Statman) writes: “Rather than a depository of remains, I like to think of the thrice-used burial plot as a playful gathering of souls.”
Doris Tate (and/or Statman) writes: “Sculpted hills, interrupted by ancient volcano remains jutting from the valley floor, surround the ten-square-mile community where the citizens live the [San Luis Obispo] life.”
Paul Tate (and/or Statman) writes: “The room was a hodgepodge of manipulation with accents of warm colors, a hint of Pachelbel’s Canon in D, sprays of golden roses, and a plush chair that seemed it could absorb the heaviest of burdens.”
A hodgepodge of manipulation, indeed! Statman continually forces our attention to the slits in her Tate masks, where her eyes can be seen blatantly peering out. In two passages, it's hard to tell if she’s writing in character, as it were, or if she’s addressing the reader directly; where she otherwise identifies her narrator, these passages are identified only by dates, so that we go from Paul Tate (or “PJ") describing the “plush chair,” “sprays of golden roses,” and “accents of warm colors” of Sharon’s funeral—all the delicate touches a gruff soldier would be sure to cite—to the subtitle “1962” and a third-person recap of Sharon’s movie career, and then back to the funeral and PJ, who resumes with: “The more I pondered it…” The implication is that PJ has been pondering his dead daughter in a flashback with such odd (for a father) musings as: “He’s right, Sharon thought, as she sat naked in the tub during day after day of filming.” Or this interesting (that is, odd) bit of proto-feminism: “What she found…on her ascent [to fame] was that an acting career was harder than she’d ever imagined—not the acting part itself, but the part that required trying to survive in a man’s world. A domain where a woman was a second-class citizen. In just a short time she understood that if she continued acting she’d remain in a constant battle with these men.” If we are meant to take this as Paul Tate’s estimate, he was quite the progressive for a military man of his generation.
Later, Statman performs a similar sleight of hand; we go from narration by Patti to the subtitle “August 9, 1969” and a third-person recreation of Sharon’s murder, then back to Patti. Statman has been criticized for this recreation, by Debra Tate and others, and she’s defended it as any novelist would, though Restless Souls both is and isn’t a novel—that is, it purports to be fact but, again, it’s written like fiction. Statman’s defense? The recreation is dramatically necessary—let nothing stand in the way of a good story!—which isn't “the truth” but the murders as imagined by Patti, so that Statman has license to embellish. And embellish she does, telling us the unknowable, such as the topic of conversation between Sharon and her guest, Jay Sebring, just before the Manson Family permanently interrupted them: Jay was “talking [Sharon] down from an earlier squabble with [Sharon's husband] Roman.”
I’ve read other novelized recreations of the Manson murders, and what their writers invariably make clear is their hidden, or not-so-hidden, wish to have been present. It’s a morbid wish, of course, though Statman can’t admit to morbidity, just as she can’t admit to an agenda in seeking out the Tates. This is precisely the kind of honesty the book could use: let it all hang out! And, unwittingly, Statman does let it all hang out here, using her purple pen as a roller brush and huffing the lurid fumes: “...her blood-slicked fingers slip across the wood surface,” etc.
As someone who has obviously thought a great deal about the case, Statman is sometimes surprisingly insightful. For instance, one of the killers, Charles “Tex” Watson, climbed a telephone pole beside the Tate gate and snipped the wires before he entered the house, followed by his assistant killers, and to that fact Statman adds: “The high view reveals the entire property. He waits. His eyes, already adapted to darkness, scan the grounds to see if the disconnected wires alerted anyone to their arrival.” None of the killers have ever, as far as I know, mentioned Watson hesitating at the top of the telephone pole, but it seems likely, and only a smart detective or someone familiar with the layout of the property, such as a former resident like Statman, would probably consider it. Statman also reports that a car at the gate would trigger a bell inside the main house, a detail apparently known to Watson, who had visited the house before the night of the murders, so that he was trying to silence the bell by cutting the wires—another fresh insight.
Elsewhere in Restless Souls, Doris Tate incisively analyzes Watson and what led him to kill, beyond the usual “Charlie made him do it” or “He’s evil.” How Doris Tate arrived at such an analysis is a mystery, since she stated more than once (as did Sharon’s biographer, Greg King) that she and the rest of the Tate family never read any books about the murders. But Statman has Doris as well as Patti reading about the murders and astutely commenting on them, and whether their comments are truly theirs or Statman’s or a hybrid, there’s occasional value in them for Mansonologists.
Meanwhile, though Statman’s style lends itself to an orgy of wincing and her book is padded with novelized transcripts of parole hearings and television shows, it somehow manages to be a page turner. Too bad it’s, again, a dishonest book, with its veneer of high-mindedness that tries to conceal a fascination with a spectacular crime; but Debra Tate is promising a book of her own, and if it ever gets written, I doubt she’ll erase Alisa Statman from the family history the way Statman erased Debra. There's a score to be settled. Which, if either, Tate sister will prevail: the one by birth or the one by self-invention?
Debra is a controversial figure among Mansonologists, frequently denounced as a liar, and worse, on the many websites and message boards devoted to the Manson case. Nor is Statman without her detractors. To her hear her tell it (though she doesn’t tell it in Restless Souls), she just happened to move into the guest house at the former residence of Sharon Tate, similar to the way Trent Reznor just happened to move into main house with no idea as to what had taken place there in August 1969. Murder? Really? You're putting me on! An aspiring filmmaker, Statman subsequently worked with unhinged Mansonologist Bill Nelson on a documentary about the case, during the course of which she liberated (that is, stole) some photos of Sharon from a retired LAPD detective and altruistically returned them to the Tate family. Soon she was living with the appreciative Tates, eventually becoming Patti’s lover and taking over the Tate house after Patti died and Paul moved out of state not long before he, too, died.
This scenario calls to mind the kind of Blakean specter seen in Joseph Losey’s 1963 film The Servant, in which the title character slowly assumes possession of his employer and the employer’s estate. The Servant was written by Harold Pinter, whose work often features interlopers, sometimes insidious, sometimes innocent. Statman, of course, claims innocence, and she’s known to post plaintive messages on Manson-case websites when her motives are questioned. To give her the benefit of the doubt, she may have begun as just another Mansonologist and found herself genuinely loving the Tates after contriving a means of ingratiating herself with them. Only she knows for certain, unless, through denial or rationalization or both, she’s converted fact into fiction.
Restless Souls, ostensibly fact, reads like fiction, and not in a good way. Statman never tells when she can show—clumsily—per Mark Twain’s instruction to writers. She dramatizes everything, turning memories into movielike scenes with “payoffs,” while editing, or ghostwriting, in the guises of the various Tates, all of whom express themselves identically—that is, like amateur novelists who want badly to write "well" and so opt for pretty words and fancy phrasings instead of the plain and humble ones more in keeping with the book’s subject.
Patti Tate (and/or Statman) writes: “An errant storm front edged its way inland from the coastline with low-slung clouds brooding well below my bird’s-eye view from the Holy Cross Cemetery.”
Brie Tate (and/or Statman) writes: “Rather than a depository of remains, I like to think of the thrice-used burial plot as a playful gathering of souls.”
Doris Tate (and/or Statman) writes: “Sculpted hills, interrupted by ancient volcano remains jutting from the valley floor, surround the ten-square-mile community where the citizens live the [San Luis Obispo] life.”
Paul Tate (and/or Statman) writes: “The room was a hodgepodge of manipulation with accents of warm colors, a hint of Pachelbel’s Canon in D, sprays of golden roses, and a plush chair that seemed it could absorb the heaviest of burdens.”
A hodgepodge of manipulation, indeed! Statman continually forces our attention to the slits in her Tate masks, where her eyes can be seen blatantly peering out. In two passages, it's hard to tell if she’s writing in character, as it were, or if she’s addressing the reader directly; where she otherwise identifies her narrator, these passages are identified only by dates, so that we go from Paul Tate (or “PJ") describing the “plush chair,” “sprays of golden roses,” and “accents of warm colors” of Sharon’s funeral—all the delicate touches a gruff soldier would be sure to cite—to the subtitle “1962” and a third-person recap of Sharon’s movie career, and then back to the funeral and PJ, who resumes with: “The more I pondered it…” The implication is that PJ has been pondering his dead daughter in a flashback with such odd (for a father) musings as: “He’s right, Sharon thought, as she sat naked in the tub during day after day of filming.” Or this interesting (that is, odd) bit of proto-feminism: “What she found…on her ascent [to fame] was that an acting career was harder than she’d ever imagined—not the acting part itself, but the part that required trying to survive in a man’s world. A domain where a woman was a second-class citizen. In just a short time she understood that if she continued acting she’d remain in a constant battle with these men.” If we are meant to take this as Paul Tate’s estimate, he was quite the progressive for a military man of his generation.
Later, Statman performs a similar sleight of hand; we go from narration by Patti to the subtitle “August 9, 1969” and a third-person recreation of Sharon’s murder, then back to Patti. Statman has been criticized for this recreation, by Debra Tate and others, and she’s defended it as any novelist would, though Restless Souls both is and isn’t a novel—that is, it purports to be fact but, again, it’s written like fiction. Statman’s defense? The recreation is dramatically necessary—let nothing stand in the way of a good story!—which isn't “the truth” but the murders as imagined by Patti, so that Statman has license to embellish. And embellish she does, telling us the unknowable, such as the topic of conversation between Sharon and her guest, Jay Sebring, just before the Manson Family permanently interrupted them: Jay was “talking [Sharon] down from an earlier squabble with [Sharon's husband] Roman.”
I’ve read other novelized recreations of the Manson murders, and what their writers invariably make clear is their hidden, or not-so-hidden, wish to have been present. It’s a morbid wish, of course, though Statman can’t admit to morbidity, just as she can’t admit to an agenda in seeking out the Tates. This is precisely the kind of honesty the book could use: let it all hang out! And, unwittingly, Statman does let it all hang out here, using her purple pen as a roller brush and huffing the lurid fumes: “...her blood-slicked fingers slip across the wood surface,” etc.
As someone who has obviously thought a great deal about the case, Statman is sometimes surprisingly insightful. For instance, one of the killers, Charles “Tex” Watson, climbed a telephone pole beside the Tate gate and snipped the wires before he entered the house, followed by his assistant killers, and to that fact Statman adds: “The high view reveals the entire property. He waits. His eyes, already adapted to darkness, scan the grounds to see if the disconnected wires alerted anyone to their arrival.” None of the killers have ever, as far as I know, mentioned Watson hesitating at the top of the telephone pole, but it seems likely, and only a smart detective or someone familiar with the layout of the property, such as a former resident like Statman, would probably consider it. Statman also reports that a car at the gate would trigger a bell inside the main house, a detail apparently known to Watson, who had visited the house before the night of the murders, so that he was trying to silence the bell by cutting the wires—another fresh insight.
Elsewhere in Restless Souls, Doris Tate incisively analyzes Watson and what led him to kill, beyond the usual “Charlie made him do it” or “He’s evil.” How Doris Tate arrived at such an analysis is a mystery, since she stated more than once (as did Sharon’s biographer, Greg King) that she and the rest of the Tate family never read any books about the murders. But Statman has Doris as well as Patti reading about the murders and astutely commenting on them, and whether their comments are truly theirs or Statman’s or a hybrid, there’s occasional value in them for Mansonologists.
Meanwhile, though Statman’s style lends itself to an orgy of wincing and her book is padded with novelized transcripts of parole hearings and television shows, it somehow manages to be a page turner. Too bad it’s, again, a dishonest book, with its veneer of high-mindedness that tries to conceal a fascination with a spectacular crime; but Debra Tate is promising a book of her own, and if it ever gets written, I doubt she’ll erase Alisa Statman from the family history the way Statman erased Debra. There's a score to be settled. Which, if either, Tate sister will prevail: the one by birth or the one by self-invention?
October 30, 2016
This is a very personal account of Sharon Tate's murder, using the unpublished memoirs of both of Sharon's parents and her sister. It begins with the morning of her baby shower, with her mother and sister Patti discovering that she has been murdered. As the investigation continues and, eventually, the trials of Charles Manson and his notorious family are over, you imagine life could begin to get back to some sort of normality. However, by 1978, members of the group are up for parole and Doris Tate has to deal with parole hearings as she works tirelessly to keep her daughters killers in prison and campaigns for victims rights.
This is a very personal account of this tragedy and the repercussions for one family. I would recommend, "Helter Skelter" as the best book about the crimes, but this is a very moving read and I recommend it highly; although it is not necessarily the best book to start with and it helps if you already have some knowledge of the events.
This is a very personal account of this tragedy and the repercussions for one family. I would recommend, "Helter Skelter" as the best book about the crimes, but this is a very moving read and I recommend it highly; although it is not necessarily the best book to start with and it helps if you already have some knowledge of the events.
January 9, 2024
I am not doing a backstory only sharing thoughts.
Thoughts:
This was a good story but a sad story of how the murder of Sharon Tate affected her family and all those who knew her. There was tons of details about different things surrounding Sharon Tate and everything that her family had to worry about every time one of the Manson members wanted out of prison and the family trying to do what they could to make sure that didn't happen. I am not sharing all what happened within this book as there would be tons of spoilers. Giving this book three "Justice Was Served" stars.
Thoughts:
This was a good story but a sad story of how the murder of Sharon Tate affected her family and all those who knew her. There was tons of details about different things surrounding Sharon Tate and everything that her family had to worry about every time one of the Manson members wanted out of prison and the family trying to do what they could to make sure that didn't happen. I am not sharing all what happened within this book as there would be tons of spoilers. Giving this book three "Justice Was Served" stars.
March 7, 2012
I think it quite fair that someone from the Tate family should, finally, have their say about the gruesome murder of Sharon Tate and, as it was usually stated at the time, "four others." (Actually six others when the La Biancas were added to the tragic list) And I admired both Doris Tate and, after her death, Sharon's youngest sister Patti for their indefatigable victims' rights advocacy and determination to keep Charles Manson and his murderous brood where they belong, in prison. That said, it is sad that Alisa R. Statman, the late Patricia Tate's domestic partner, did not perform a bit more critical editing of the material. "Restless Souls" is an interesting cinema verite-style narrative from the points of view of P.J. and Doris Tate, Patti, and Patti's daughter Brie, the latter the only one still with us. Unfortunately, within a few chapters said narrative veers into, well if not pure fantasy then certainly a story told with plenty of 20/20 hindsight. There is, early on, a discussion between Colonel Tate, Sharon's bereaved father, and Mama Cass Elliott that reads as completely false, if not downright fabricated, where Elliott bemoans the fact that the murders was the end of an era. There is absolutely no way that Cass Elliott in 1969 would think of the present as an "era" never mind one that is now "over." In other words, that the counter-culture, anti war, peace and love movement that she stood for had ended. Yes, in hindsight, you may argue all that, but Cass was still living it. When Colonel Tate then five pages later on stakes out the Cielo Dr. property where his daughter and the "four others" were slain and, lo and behold, espies a group of longhaired hippies taunting the watchdog, well my patience was about up. It was completely up after the next paragraph wherein Tate trails the motley group to, you guessed it, the now infamous hideout at Spahn Ranch in Chatsworth. Sorry, that is just too unbelievable for my taste.
May 19, 2012
I read this fairly quickly and the different perspectives of the Tate family members was compelling but I just don't know how much of this book was actually non-fiction. How did the author know what Sharon Tate was thinking the night of the murders or exactly what went down as she graphically presents. This book presents itself as one thing but I found most of it to be made up by the Statman. I did like that the focus was on how the murders affected the Tate family and did not dwell or appear sympathetic to the Manson Family. They come off like the monsters they were/are.
June 4, 2014
Ugh.
This year I've been trying to read more books by people impacted by crime. Up until now all of them have been great, but my luck ran out with this one. It's true that there are good segments of this book. But the choice to put the book in first person, when most of the people behind the POVs are deceased... I don't know. There's something unsettling about it.
I also had trouble stomaching the sections on California's prisons. I don't want any of the Manson family released from prison. At the same time, California's incarceration system is a notorious clusterfuck that seems to veer between legalistic punishment of criminals, and then letting violent offenders out after an absurdly small amount of time. It's a system pretty much designed for recidivism (not to mention the school to prison pipeline that is alive and well.)
I don't expect any member of the Tate family to feel warmly towards prisoners (or to forgive the prisoners that victimized them; SCREW the idea that they owe the Manson family anything.) But, after making victim's rights the centerpiece of this book there probably should be more facts grounding these portions of the book. More reflections on the actual victories and defeats of the movement at large. The American prison system continues to be a largely reactionary institution that does little to serve the public. The Tates have no obligation to take up the banner of the rights of the incarcerated, but someone has to care about that, and it's not a ridiculous, overly idealistic thing to care about, either. But this book mostly portrays "lock 'em up forever!" and "you must forgive the people that killed your daughter! and, oh yeah, let's out all the lifers!" as the only available stances on prison. And I don't think that's the case.
This year I've been trying to read more books by people impacted by crime. Up until now all of them have been great, but my luck ran out with this one. It's true that there are good segments of this book. But the choice to put the book in first person, when most of the people behind the POVs are deceased... I don't know. There's something unsettling about it.
I also had trouble stomaching the sections on California's prisons. I don't want any of the Manson family released from prison. At the same time, California's incarceration system is a notorious clusterfuck that seems to veer between legalistic punishment of criminals, and then letting violent offenders out after an absurdly small amount of time. It's a system pretty much designed for recidivism (not to mention the school to prison pipeline that is alive and well.)
I don't expect any member of the Tate family to feel warmly towards prisoners (or to forgive the prisoners that victimized them; SCREW the idea that they owe the Manson family anything.) But, after making victim's rights the centerpiece of this book there probably should be more facts grounding these portions of the book. More reflections on the actual victories and defeats of the movement at large. The American prison system continues to be a largely reactionary institution that does little to serve the public. The Tates have no obligation to take up the banner of the rights of the incarcerated, but someone has to care about that, and it's not a ridiculous, overly idealistic thing to care about, either. But this book mostly portrays "lock 'em up forever!" and "you must forgive the people that killed your daughter! and, oh yeah, let's out all the lifers!" as the only available stances on prison. And I don't think that's the case.
June 28, 2013
Oh MY ! Where to start ? I guess I will keep this short because the sooner this book is forgotten the better !
This book really should be filed under the fiction category ,this author should be ashamed (Especially since she has ties to the Tate family ) ! A total pile of crap from someone only looking to get their name in the press and looking to cash in on this already flooded arena of books on the case. ( And almost all of them are a million times more factual and easier to digest)
Now ,if you can pick this book up for under $1 (and I'm sure you will be able to soon ! ) .........It makes fantastic bird cage lining !
Don't waste your time or hard earned money !
This book really should be filed under the fiction category ,this author should be ashamed (Especially since she has ties to the Tate family ) ! A total pile of crap from someone only looking to get their name in the press and looking to cash in on this already flooded arena of books on the case. ( And almost all of them are a million times more factual and easier to digest)
Now ,if you can pick this book up for under $1 (and I'm sure you will be able to soon ! ) .........It makes fantastic bird cage lining !
Don't waste your time or hard earned money !
July 3, 2016
Restless Souls was a well-written, compelling and interesting biography from start to finish. I've always enjoyed stories of people overcoming incredible suffering and standing up to those who've tried to oppress them. The Tate family's legacy goes far beyond the murder of Sharon. Their activism changed laws. They gave comfort and justice to so many families. Definitely a story worth telling.
April 23, 2012
I likely wouldn't have picked this up if I'd realized how tabloidy it was; something about the cover or cover copy made me think it was a more intellectual/critical book than it is. (I look at it now and have no idea what I was thinking.) It adds another interesting perspective, though.
November 6, 2022
One word to describe this book: Sad. Not only was Sharon's life cut short, her family's lives were never the same either. The impact of this senseless act of murder carried through the Tate family for three generations and their family is forever tied to Manson.
October 3, 2013
Restless Souls: The Sharon Tate Family’s Account of Stardom, the Manson Murders, and a Crusade for Justice is the latest entry into the substantial collection of books written about the Manson murders and at first glance, it may seem an unwanted and unneeded addition into an oversaturated, even weary, market. Don’t let the number of books preceding it affect your decision to pass this one by. It’s well worth your time and effort.
This case has long been one that I have had a particular interest in. Helter Skelter, Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry’s classic about the crimes, was the first book in the true crime genre that I read. Since then, I have reread it many times and the senseless horror never fails to create an uneasy pit in my stomach. Of all the Manson victims, Sharon Tate was the most pathetic and the most notorious; perhaps for this reason I felt a particular sadness over her death.
Finding Restless Souls was hitting the literary lottery for me. After more than forty years, this was an account of how the Tate family dealt with the aftermath of the most well known murders of the 20th century and how the brutal killing of her daughter led Sharon’s mother Doris to forcefully advocate for victims’ families.
A good quarter or so of the book deals with Sharon and the time before the murders. I appreciated reading about the true Sharon, as her family saw her and knew her. Authors Alisa Statman and Brie Tate (nee Ford, Sharon’s niece) pull no punches in using journals written by P.J. and Doris Tate, as well as Sharon’s sister Patti (and Brie’s late mother). They admit to Sharon’s drug usage, as well as usage by her former fiancé and fellow victim, Jay Sebring, and the debt he was in following the crimes. Reading Sebring’s despondency over Sharon’s pregnancy, still pining for her and hoping that she would return to him once her marriage ended, and knowing they would die together was particularly heartbreaking. Sharon is presented as particularly human, no saint but certainly not the questionable “live freaky, die freaky” character that’s been oft-repeated since her death. Rather, she is shown as a loving and devoted daughter and sister, a fierce animal lover, a woman who cried reading Tess of the D’Urbervilles and encouraged her husband that it would make a wonderful film (a film he made in 1979, dedicating it to her). For Sharon Tate fans who like her with only the gauzy light of reality on her, they may not be pleased; for those who want to know the real Sharon, good and bad, this is a slice of heaven.
The bulk of Restless Souls deals with the after effects of murder on the living victims, not just the Tate family but the Parent family and various families that Doris Tate would go on to help. These were the difficult parts of the book to read. The raw anguish of the Tates’ suffering comes off every page, making it at times necessary to put the book down, even just for a moment. And a moment was about as long as I could stand to put it down, so anxious I was to continue on this uneasy journey with Sharon’s family. Doris Tate, despite her resistance to be categorized as such, was a true heroine - - a strong fighter who took the greatest tragedy of her life and dedicated herself to trying to prevent the same horror happening to others. PJ Tate, following the death of his daughter, took to the streets himself in search of his child’s killers and his investigation is included, to fascinating effect. Particularly interesting to me was Tate’s confrontation with killer Charles “Tex” Watson, an encounter that left the cold and heartless killer shaken. Patti Tate’s story, while less well known than her mother’s, is no less sad; only ten years old in 1969, she idolized her older sister and felt she never had the chance to give Sharon a proper goodbye and spent many years not acknowledging or speaking of her.
The only weak part of Restless Souls, in this reader’s opinion, was the replay of the murders in which the thoughts and feelings of the victims are discussed. As this is pure conjecture taken from Patti’s unpublished memoir and written as fact, it’s a bit disconcerting. However, it’s a small flaw compared to the overall strength of the book, which includes showing not only Sharon but Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger and Woyteck Frykowski as actual people and not just victims. (There is no information on Steven Parent because the Tates and their friends did not know him).
Restless Souls is a worthy companion to Helter Skelter, the latter discussing the crimes, detection of the killers and their trials, a memoir of pain and heartache as well as a nod to Doris, PJ and Patti Tate’s dedication and a reminder that Sharon Tate was more than a beautiful murder victim. I would not hesitate to highly recommend it.
© Psychotic State Book Reviews 2013
This case has long been one that I have had a particular interest in. Helter Skelter, Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry’s classic about the crimes, was the first book in the true crime genre that I read. Since then, I have reread it many times and the senseless horror never fails to create an uneasy pit in my stomach. Of all the Manson victims, Sharon Tate was the most pathetic and the most notorious; perhaps for this reason I felt a particular sadness over her death.
Finding Restless Souls was hitting the literary lottery for me. After more than forty years, this was an account of how the Tate family dealt with the aftermath of the most well known murders of the 20th century and how the brutal killing of her daughter led Sharon’s mother Doris to forcefully advocate for victims’ families.
A good quarter or so of the book deals with Sharon and the time before the murders. I appreciated reading about the true Sharon, as her family saw her and knew her. Authors Alisa Statman and Brie Tate (nee Ford, Sharon’s niece) pull no punches in using journals written by P.J. and Doris Tate, as well as Sharon’s sister Patti (and Brie’s late mother). They admit to Sharon’s drug usage, as well as usage by her former fiancé and fellow victim, Jay Sebring, and the debt he was in following the crimes. Reading Sebring’s despondency over Sharon’s pregnancy, still pining for her and hoping that she would return to him once her marriage ended, and knowing they would die together was particularly heartbreaking. Sharon is presented as particularly human, no saint but certainly not the questionable “live freaky, die freaky” character that’s been oft-repeated since her death. Rather, she is shown as a loving and devoted daughter and sister, a fierce animal lover, a woman who cried reading Tess of the D’Urbervilles and encouraged her husband that it would make a wonderful film (a film he made in 1979, dedicating it to her). For Sharon Tate fans who like her with only the gauzy light of reality on her, they may not be pleased; for those who want to know the real Sharon, good and bad, this is a slice of heaven.
The bulk of Restless Souls deals with the after effects of murder on the living victims, not just the Tate family but the Parent family and various families that Doris Tate would go on to help. These were the difficult parts of the book to read. The raw anguish of the Tates’ suffering comes off every page, making it at times necessary to put the book down, even just for a moment. And a moment was about as long as I could stand to put it down, so anxious I was to continue on this uneasy journey with Sharon’s family. Doris Tate, despite her resistance to be categorized as such, was a true heroine - - a strong fighter who took the greatest tragedy of her life and dedicated herself to trying to prevent the same horror happening to others. PJ Tate, following the death of his daughter, took to the streets himself in search of his child’s killers and his investigation is included, to fascinating effect. Particularly interesting to me was Tate’s confrontation with killer Charles “Tex” Watson, an encounter that left the cold and heartless killer shaken. Patti Tate’s story, while less well known than her mother’s, is no less sad; only ten years old in 1969, she idolized her older sister and felt she never had the chance to give Sharon a proper goodbye and spent many years not acknowledging or speaking of her.
The only weak part of Restless Souls, in this reader’s opinion, was the replay of the murders in which the thoughts and feelings of the victims are discussed. As this is pure conjecture taken from Patti’s unpublished memoir and written as fact, it’s a bit disconcerting. However, it’s a small flaw compared to the overall strength of the book, which includes showing not only Sharon but Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger and Woyteck Frykowski as actual people and not just victims. (There is no information on Steven Parent because the Tates and their friends did not know him).
Restless Souls is a worthy companion to Helter Skelter, the latter discussing the crimes, detection of the killers and their trials, a memoir of pain and heartache as well as a nod to Doris, PJ and Patti Tate’s dedication and a reminder that Sharon Tate was more than a beautiful murder victim. I would not hesitate to highly recommend it.
© Psychotic State Book Reviews 2013
May 11, 2014
3 1/2 stars. This book is full of controversy, which I will briefly explain before I review the book. Alisa Statman is an assistant director for the television show Modern Family. She used to be in a relationship with Sharon Tate's sister, Patricia Tate. Brie Tate is Patricia Tate's daughter from a previous marriage. This book is a retelling, for lack of a better term, of several unpublished memoirs by Sharon Tate's mother, Doris Tate, father, P.J. Tate and sister, Patricia Tate. Statman writes that she was left with family documents and drafts of memoirs when Patricia Tate died in 2000. The problem? There is another Tate sister, Debra Tate, who is the last living Tate relative to have actually known Sharon, and she feels that Statman and Debra's niece, Brie Ford (not Tate), have no right to rewrite these memoirs. If you look online, you can find Debra Tate's two statements about this book and Statman, which include creepy claims of Statman once living in the now destroyed guest house of the home where Sharon Tate was murdered and an attempt to open Tate's grave, with the help of Roman Polanski. If you look online for Statman's side of the story, she claims the guesthouse rental was a coincidence before she even met or fell in love with Patricia Tate. Statman also claims she had Polanski's blessing to pose as a Tate family relative in order to place Patricia's ashes next to Sharon's coffin because the Catholic church doesn't accept gay relationships. Bottom line is that Debra Tate is pretty pissed about this book, but no lawsuits have been filed, which means Statman must have the legal rights to rewrite or retell the Tate's side of the story.
Anyway, this book is not all that well written, but it is fascinating. It really shows Sharon in a really lovely light, and of course, tells more about her personal life than I knew before. I also learned a lot about both Doris Tate's and Patricia Tate's work as victim advocates. They both fought really hard to not only keep Sharon's killers in prison, but helped other families who lost loved ones to murder. This book does not glamorize the Mason Family or the killers, and really exposes Manson, Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, Van Houten and Kasabian as manipulative, selfish murderers.
This book is a loving tribute to Sharon Tate and her short, beautiful life. It's still shocking to learn about the events of August 9, 1969, but I am glad that I learned more about Sharon as a daughter, sister and friend. Although it's not very well written, this book at least tries to show a more human side of Sharon, which is refreshing.
Anyway, this book is not all that well written, but it is fascinating. It really shows Sharon in a really lovely light, and of course, tells more about her personal life than I knew before. I also learned a lot about both Doris Tate's and Patricia Tate's work as victim advocates. They both fought really hard to not only keep Sharon's killers in prison, but helped other families who lost loved ones to murder. This book does not glamorize the Mason Family or the killers, and really exposes Manson, Watson, Atkins, Krenwinkel, Van Houten and Kasabian as manipulative, selfish murderers.
This book is a loving tribute to Sharon Tate and her short, beautiful life. It's still shocking to learn about the events of August 9, 1969, but I am glad that I learned more about Sharon as a daughter, sister and friend. Although it's not very well written, this book at least tries to show a more human side of Sharon, which is refreshing.
July 21, 2012
I grew up hearing about the Tate murders and the Mason family. It seemed a year didn't go by without some news story related to the murders. Yet little was told of Sharon Tate and her family. I found this book interesting and the prespective of Each member opened your eyes to what the family went through. The thing that stood our to me was the middle daughter Debra immediately was dismissed and you never heard her viewpoint. It made me want to know more about her and her story.
October 31, 2016
I don't think anyone alive when these crimes were committed will ever forget them. The brutality of the killings is beyond comprehension. My heart goes out the all the victims families.
March 8, 2016
One of the things I am taking away from this book is what complete and total a-holes people are when confronted by a tragedy that they can't understand.
After the 8 months pregnant daughter is murdered (by at that time persons unknown), horrible things are written in the press about them, the middle school daughter is bullied when starting a new school, and the parents are sent a bill from the owner of the house charging them clean up costs for the murder.
This speaks for itself....kick them when their down.....making me question WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?
I am still in the early stages of this book and have read reviews about how it is fictionalized though the media coverage was not fiction and the memories from the sister and father are fact as well.
Another thing I took away is that although both of the parents were destroyed by grief, the father still seethed with hate while the mother was able to channel her grief into a victim's rights movement (for lack of a better word). In other words, she was able to get an organization going that notified families of crime victims when the next parole hearing for the killers would be up so that they could add their voice to the mix. I get the feeling the victim was often the forgotten one years ago in crimes.
After the 8 months pregnant daughter is murdered (by at that time persons unknown), horrible things are written in the press about them, the middle school daughter is bullied when starting a new school, and the parents are sent a bill from the owner of the house charging them clean up costs for the murder.
This speaks for itself....kick them when their down.....making me question WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?
I am still in the early stages of this book and have read reviews about how it is fictionalized though the media coverage was not fiction and the memories from the sister and father are fact as well.
Another thing I took away is that although both of the parents were destroyed by grief, the father still seethed with hate while the mother was able to channel her grief into a victim's rights movement (for lack of a better word). In other words, she was able to get an organization going that notified families of crime victims when the next parole hearing for the killers would be up so that they could add their voice to the mix. I get the feeling the victim was often the forgotten one years ago in crimes.
August 22, 2017
If you know anything about me, you know that I have very extensively researched this case. I've probably read, listened, watched everything and anything on Sharon Tate, her life, Manson and his family, and all the history on both sides.
This is the third time I've read the book. It's just one of those cases that I keep coming back to. It's just so intriguing. There are so many different views.
It really shows the murders of Sharon through the eyes of her family. It helps to bring to light the memories and real essence of who she was as a person, and the aftermath of murder to a person's family. I have absolutely nothing against Brie Tate or Alisa Statman, but I think that the family drama is a bit ridiculous. For whatever reason Debra was disowned I guess, but it's frustrating how she is hardly mentioned in the book. Brie wasn't even born when this all happened. I would have loved for Debra, Brie and Alisa all to have come together and written a book. From what i've heard, Debra doesn't even like the book. Next on my list is definitely her book, Recollection. Regardless, a great read. Especially if your particularly interested in the Manson murders.
This is the third time I've read the book. It's just one of those cases that I keep coming back to. It's just so intriguing. There are so many different views.
It really shows the murders of Sharon through the eyes of her family. It helps to bring to light the memories and real essence of who she was as a person, and the aftermath of murder to a person's family. I have absolutely nothing against Brie Tate or Alisa Statman, but I think that the family drama is a bit ridiculous. For whatever reason Debra was disowned I guess, but it's frustrating how she is hardly mentioned in the book. Brie wasn't even born when this all happened. I would have loved for Debra, Brie and Alisa all to have come together and written a book. From what i've heard, Debra doesn't even like the book. Next on my list is definitely her book, Recollection. Regardless, a great read. Especially if your particularly interested in the Manson murders.
October 14, 2016
Loved reading this, but important to remember to take EVERYTHING with a pinch of salt.
This book is so loosely based on the memoirs of Sharon Tate's mother and father, but how much has been exaggerated - impossible to tell. I found the addendums from Brie Tate pointless, she has almost no connection to the story as born in the 1980's. The one thing that is worth reading (if to be believed as gospel) is the testimony from Cnl Paul Tate - his memories of the trial and having to go to the Mausoleum alone (as his wife could not accept it) after the tragedy is the singularly most upsetting thing I have ever read.
This book is so loosely based on the memoirs of Sharon Tate's mother and father, but how much has been exaggerated - impossible to tell. I found the addendums from Brie Tate pointless, she has almost no connection to the story as born in the 1980's. The one thing that is worth reading (if to be believed as gospel) is the testimony from Cnl Paul Tate - his memories of the trial and having to go to the Mausoleum alone (as his wife could not accept it) after the tragedy is the singularly most upsetting thing I have ever read.
October 26, 2017
I'm torn in how to react. This was a very interesting read, from a very different perspective than most material about the murders. But how much of it was fact and how much was fiction? The intimacy of the first person style could work well given another writer and more background as to where those voices are actually coming from, but this book feels fictionalized in some places and tabloid-esque in others. It just left me with the very uncomfortable feeling of having peeped into this family's private grief.
March 12, 2012
What an eye opener. It shows how society puts all the focus on criminals and we forget about the victims. I will never look at this case the same again. Rest in peace those whose lives were taken by these madmen. I hope your killers never see life outside of prison walls again.
June 6, 2012
Interesting quick read. Did I believe every word of it? No. But I've yet to read anything that I'd consider to be 100% accurate on the subject. I did learn a couple of things that I had not read before. The (Tate) family's disdain for Debra Tate is obvious. The book left me wondering why.
August 18, 2014
I loved this book. It has gone on to my all time favourites pile. I loved the way it was written as if the author was talking to me. Loved it and highly recommend.
February 12, 2016
A heartbreaking but ultimately wonderful read, because of all the good the Tates made come out of their personal disaster. Highly recommended.
Read
October 5, 2016Full of lies and fiction. Statman is a liar and a thief. She (claims she) has mountains of paperwork at her disposal, which she also claims were "given" to her, yet she uses none of it for this book. She also has pictures (which thankfully were not used, though it was surprising she didn't stoop to this sort of sensationalism-she's used this family for her own gain in every which way she possibly can) which she stole from various sources. Everything she claims she has was ill gotten/stolen. If, indeed, she has it at all.
She misrepresented everything she said this book was going to be. Anyone who knows anything about the case knows EVERYTHING in this book is inaccurate. Every single word is a lie. Whole conversations and scenarios that she would not have been a party to were completely made up in Statman's own mind. She even veers into the paranormal a couple of times. Please.
I could go on point by point, but I just don't want to spend this much time on this garbage she claims is a book. In fact I threw this lie filled disgusting thing into the recycle bin, so it can be remade into something useful. Like toilet tissue. I refused to give it away and let someone else be duped by this liar. I would feel bad letting this leave my hands and passing it on.
If you really want to learn more about this case, go onto YouTube and watch the Doris Tate interviews. Sharon's sisters interviews. Do your own research because you will not get what you are paying for out of this book. I can't believe this vile person can write a book and claim all of these things, blatantly going against everything that Sharon's mother Doris said in recorded interviews. Does she really think ALL people are that naive? That they can sit and watch and listen to words come out of Doris's mouth, then turn around and read this book and believe Statman? Does Statman really believe that she would know more about this family than Doris Tate? Does she really believe she knows more than the investigators? That she knows more that Sharon's doctors who were treating her during her pregnancy? Than the coroner (though he at times made questionable statements for his own gain once he realized what this case would do for his career-stating during autopsy that there were no drugs in her system....then later insinuating rumors of drug use were true)? She's a horrible person who gets off on this case and her ability to get "close" to poor Patricia Tate. This creeper also spent time living on the property where Sharon was killed. While you're researching the case for the truth after reading this "book" (AKA pack of crap), which I hope you do, also research A. Statman.
Above all else, above all the things you will read in this lie infested book, all the information you will see on the internet...... remember that the people who were killed were human beings. They lived extraordinary lives yes, but they were someones child, brother, or parent. There are families that are still suffering because of these murders. Don't help Statman (weirdly enough my computer keeps trying to change Statman to Satan, coincidence?) build on other peoples pain.
Sharon's niece may have her name on this book, but I highly doubt she did much of the writing. I have a hard time believing she would let her family be dragged through the mud as it was. My thoughts on her are she was duped as well.
A. Statman has problems. She needs a good therapist and some medications.
Alisa Statman waited until the Tate family, aside from Debra, were no longer living....so she could sell her fairy tale, and there was no Paul, Doris, or Patricia Tate to say she wasn't the close "family friend" she claims to have been. All she had to do was delete Debra Tate from her own family, and let Debra's critics take care of the rest.
Its lies. Lies. Lies. And Alisa Statman knows this. Very well. I don't understand how people like her can live with themselves.
She misrepresented everything she said this book was going to be. Anyone who knows anything about the case knows EVERYTHING in this book is inaccurate. Every single word is a lie. Whole conversations and scenarios that she would not have been a party to were completely made up in Statman's own mind. She even veers into the paranormal a couple of times. Please.
I could go on point by point, but I just don't want to spend this much time on this garbage she claims is a book. In fact I threw this lie filled disgusting thing into the recycle bin, so it can be remade into something useful. Like toilet tissue. I refused to give it away and let someone else be duped by this liar. I would feel bad letting this leave my hands and passing it on.
If you really want to learn more about this case, go onto YouTube and watch the Doris Tate interviews. Sharon's sisters interviews. Do your own research because you will not get what you are paying for out of this book. I can't believe this vile person can write a book and claim all of these things, blatantly going against everything that Sharon's mother Doris said in recorded interviews. Does she really think ALL people are that naive? That they can sit and watch and listen to words come out of Doris's mouth, then turn around and read this book and believe Statman? Does Statman really believe that she would know more about this family than Doris Tate? Does she really believe she knows more than the investigators? That she knows more that Sharon's doctors who were treating her during her pregnancy? Than the coroner (though he at times made questionable statements for his own gain once he realized what this case would do for his career-stating during autopsy that there were no drugs in her system....then later insinuating rumors of drug use were true)? She's a horrible person who gets off on this case and her ability to get "close" to poor Patricia Tate. This creeper also spent time living on the property where Sharon was killed. While you're researching the case for the truth after reading this "book" (AKA pack of crap), which I hope you do, also research A. Statman.
Above all else, above all the things you will read in this lie infested book, all the information you will see on the internet...... remember that the people who were killed were human beings. They lived extraordinary lives yes, but they were someones child, brother, or parent. There are families that are still suffering because of these murders. Don't help Statman (weirdly enough my computer keeps trying to change Statman to Satan, coincidence?) build on other peoples pain.
Sharon's niece may have her name on this book, but I highly doubt she did much of the writing. I have a hard time believing she would let her family be dragged through the mud as it was. My thoughts on her are she was duped as well.
A. Statman has problems. She needs a good therapist and some medications.
Alisa Statman waited until the Tate family, aside from Debra, were no longer living....so she could sell her fairy tale, and there was no Paul, Doris, or Patricia Tate to say she wasn't the close "family friend" she claims to have been. All she had to do was delete Debra Tate from her own family, and let Debra's critics take care of the rest.
Its lies. Lies. Lies. And Alisa Statman knows this. Very well. I don't understand how people like her can live with themselves.
September 17, 2019
Sharon Tates father PJ, Mother Doris, and sister Patti all endeavored to tell the Tates family's story and the effects of her murder on their lives in unpublished manuscripts. All now deceased, Patti Tates partner Alis Statman with Brie Tate Sharon's niece has edited these works into this book. This title reads like a narrative , rather then a piece of non-fiction. Personally after reading the book I feel that the author has used creative licence. There are numerous examples thinly disguised in which I suspect the author has placed her own perception, views, feelings and thoughts into the text in the guise of the original voice. One of the criticisms of Statman in Tate canon is that she is a person who over the years infiltrated herself into the Tate family. She eventually became the de-facto partner of Patti Tate. This book does not do anything to counter this perception. Debra Tate, Sharon's only living sister is barley mentioned and in this text and is all but forgotten. Also smells, feelings, perceptions and views of people are given that could not be possibly known if not recorded. PJ's run-in with Steve McQueen for example...or his encounters with Tex Watson and John Phillips, or Doris' apprehensive feelings towards Mama Cass. Sadly with the exception of the murders and its immediate aftermath the narrative of the text portrays the family's story as just one boisterous tale after another .....and I think that does a disservice to a proud family that has suffered so much. Simply after reading this book I can identify with the felling that the Tate family legacy has been hijacked by an infiltrator. I think they deserve better then this. Of course these thoughts are my own and I would be more then glad to be proven mistaken. Also there is not one footnote or reference in this whole book to justify any, quote or resource. Also there was no bibliography provided. That says it all to me.
November 20, 2012
Good book. The part that resonated the most with me (in chapter 11), is when Doris Tate discusses the Amy Sue Seitz case. I grew up in Camarillo, and was 8 years old when she was kidnapped. It was so sad and so scary...The neighbor boy told me in graphic detail what the kidnapper did to her and I ran home crying. The kidnapper was tried and convicted, and when the judge read the verdict of the sentencing phase (death), he also said "I wouldn't sweat it. You will probably die of old age, out on the streets and still molesting children". Then I was appalled when Rose Bird commuted Theodore Frank's death sentence. When people say that criminals should not be dehumanized, I say Theodore Frank was very inhuman to begin with, and how could society suffer a person like that to live anymore? In the 80s they reheld his penalty phase of trial, and he again received the death penalty. However he died in 2001 on death row of a heart attack. The State of California paid for the housing and feeding of a convicted child torturer for all those years. The atmosphere of crime and fear in 1970s California made it a scary time to be a kid. All that said, I'm very glad that Doris Tate did all that work for victim's rights and truth in sentencing. I think I liked the viewpoint of Patti Tate the most in this book. I am so glad Alisa and Brie have published this book, whatever little personal interpretations were put there by Statman to make it cohesive are unimportant to me (she tells you she did this at times, in the preface), because the important thing is that this book made it into print and we can all read their stories.
March 20, 2014
(Spoilers) As a life long Sharon Tate fan I really had doubts about this book. First off because it was written by the niece and "ex lover" to Patti Tate, Sharon's sister. And there are certainly things I do not agree on or believe in this book such as Paul Tate following bikers from Sharon's front gate to the desert where Manson and his followers were. And I dislike how they did a chapter on Sharon herself from inside her mind. You couldn't possibly know what she was thinking when she was on a boat or filming over seas. Other than that I enjoyed the family photos, the more in debt facts on Sharon. And even on Jay & Roman whom the family loved. I have read "Helter Skelter" multiple times & I realize small facts that only I would care about along with other obsessed readers missed. Like the fact that Sharon and Gibby both has dogs in the house the night of the murders. New fact I didn't know about. And I never knew the landlord of the Cielo property sued The Tate's because the blood ruined his carpet and Paul Tate had to go in and rip up the bloody murder scene. I felt that was a true sense of how Hollywood works. Greed. In the end I loved this book not for recounting the murder but for giving more insight into Sharon herself. Not the actress or Manson victim, just the Sharon they knew and loved. And also I loved the victims rights and fighting to keep killers behind bars. The struggle that family went trough it unbelievable. I recommend this book for anyone who loves Sharon Tate. Not just the murder but her on a deeper level. Great read. Finished it in 2 days.
April 7, 2016
One of the first true-crime books I ever read was Helter Skelter. I had heard of Charlie Manson but knew nothing of his crimes or the other killers involved. After reading Helter Skelter, I made it a point to learn as much as I could about the Tate-LaBianca murders.
It was not long before my research led me to the inspiring crusade of Doris Tate. I have always admired her strength and devotion to victims rights and her determination that none of the killers be paroled.
Aside from her public presence the Tate family has been very private. This book was an incredible look inside a family's generational grief. I was already an admirer of Doris Tate's, and this book only increased my respect for her and her family.
Thank you to the authors for opening your lives to us.
It was not long before my research led me to the inspiring crusade of Doris Tate. I have always admired her strength and devotion to victims rights and her determination that none of the killers be paroled.
Aside from her public presence the Tate family has been very private. This book was an incredible look inside a family's generational grief. I was already an admirer of Doris Tate's, and this book only increased my respect for her and her family.
Thank you to the authors for opening your lives to us.
June 24, 2015
I almost didn't read this book because of all the bad reviews. I thought it was pretty good. It's clearly a fictionalized account of what the Tate family thought about Charles Manson and the murders. The book claims it's based on diaries of Sharon's parents and sister but I don't believe that's the case. Doris, Paul & Patti are all dead now so I'm pretty sure alot of what's written comes from what Patti's daughter Brie remembers or what she heard growing up. It's in no way an accurate account. With that being said, it was a good and interesting read.
February 17, 2015
While I understand it would be horrific to have to live with losing a loved one like this, I found that Doris was a bit hypocritical. On one hand working with inmates and realizing that rehabilitation is a reality for many while on the other hand insisting that her daughter's killers can never be rehabilitated. I don't believe that Sharon Tate is any more or any less important than any other victim of murder.
March 7, 2016
You can feel the emotions as Alisa Statman and Brie Tate walks you through family accounts of the murder of Sharon Tate. They also give a little background of Sharon's life before that awful day as well as a peek into what was going on with the family. Court records are included as well as the continuous fight to keep them all behind bars. I am so disturbed by the fact that Manson is able to recruit new followers. Hard read due to subject but good book on the subject.
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