Not the Camilla We Knew: One Woman's Path from Small-town America to the Symbionese Liberation Army

by Rachael Hanel

The mystery of how an ordinary Minnesota girl came to be, briefly, one of the most wanted domestic terrorists in the United States

Behind every act of domestic terrorism there is someone’s child, an average American whose life took a radical turn for reasons that often remain mysterious. Camilla Hall is a case in a pastor’s daughter from small-town Minnesota who eventually joined the ranks of radicals like Sara Jane Olson (aka Kathleen Soliah) in the notorious Symbionese Liberation Army before dying in a shootout with Los Angeles Police in May 1974. How could a “good girl” like Camilla become one of the most wanted domestic terrorists in the United States? Rachael Hanel tells her story here, revealing both the deep humanity and the extraordinary circumstances of Camilla Hall’s life.Camilla’s childhood in a tight-knit religious family was marred by loss and grief as, one after another, her three siblings died. Her path from her Minnesota home to her final, radical SLA family featured years as an artist and activist—in welfare offices, political campaigns, union organizing, culminating in a love affair that would be her introduction to the SLA. Through in-depth research and extensive interviews, Hanel pieces together Camilla’s bewildering transformation from a “gentle, zaftig, arty, otherworldy” young woman (as one observer remarked), working for social change within the system, into a gun-wielding criminal involved in the kidnapping of Patty Hearst.During this time of mounting unrest and violence, Camilla Hall’s story is of urgent interest for what it reveals about the forces of radicalization. But as Hanel ventures ever further into Camilla’s past, searching out the critical points where character and cause might intersect, her book becomes an intriguing, disturbing, and ultimately deeply moving journey into the dark side of America’s promise.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Crime, True Crime, Biography Memoir, Memoir

240 pages, Paperback

Published December 13, 2022

About the author

I'm a writer and associate professor of creative writing in southern Minnesota, where I was born and raised. WE'LL BE THE LAST ONES TO LET YOU DOWN is my first book for adults. I have written more than 20 books for the children's educational market. My book, NOT THE CAMILLA WE KNEW: ONE WOMAN'S PATH FROM SMALL-TOWN AMERICA TO THE SYMBIONESE LIBERATION ARMY, is forthcoming in December 2022 from the University of Minnesota Press.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not The Camilla We Knew: One Woman’s Life from Small-town America to the Symbionese Liberation Army – Rachael Hanel PhD. – (2022)
Camilla Hall (1945-74) was one of six members of the Symbionese Liberation Army who perished in a fiery shoot-out with the LAPD on May 17, 1974, when the South-Central Los Angeles house (54th Compton) erupted in flames and burnt to the ground. This is the first significant biography to chronicle the life of Ms. Hall. Rachael Hanel is the associate professor of creative non-fiction/journalism at the University of Minnesota.

A great deal of general information about Camilla is based on archival research, media coverage of the SLA and the observations of others that “didn’t really know her that well." It was challenging to write a comprehensive portrait of Camilla without the input of living family members or close friends. Camilla was the only surviving daughter of Bob and Lorena Hall, three of her siblings died of genetic conditions related to heart and kidney disease. Bob, a Lutheran minister/scholar/theologian moved his family frequently-- from the mission fields in Africa to various stateside appointments at colleges and universities.
In college Camilla was an average student (2.5 GPA) and earned a Humanities degree from the University of Minnesota. Camilla worked briefly as a compassionate social worker before deciding to leave Minnesota for San Francisco. Camilla was energized by the sunny California climate, and supported herself selling her drawings at art fairs in the Bay area. As a prolific letter-writer she kept her parents informed about her own frequent moves, her work, etc. Camilla did not disclose her romantic friendship with Patricia Soltysic (the co-founder of the SLA). It wasn’t clear if the Hall’s even knew Camilla was gay, though they must have realized at some point that she wouldn’t likely marry or have children. Any meaningful narratives (or analysis) pertaining to her vital identity as a lesbian (also spiritual/religious beliefs) were noticeably lacking in the book. The absence of close/significant relationships (beyond superficial levels) in her life likely made her vulnerable to SLA influences.
Camilla’s involvement in the SLA’s kidnapping of Patty Heart placed her on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, she was “outed” in the national news media as a “radical/militant lesbian” many journalists compared the SLA to the Manson Family killings and acts of violence. Hempel traced the origins of the SLA to Vacaville Prison experiments by CIA officials (1967-72). While incarcerated, Donald De Freeze was convinced that he could become the next Martin Luther King Jr./Malcolm X. There is no official record of De Freeze’s participation in a program.

Hempel is not the only person to write a college dissertation about Camilla Hall, she met with the (retired) Lutheran psychologist/analyst Harvey Honig PhD. (2014). He authored: “A Psychobiographical Study of Camilla Hall” (1978). The public interest in the members and events surrounding the SLA continues to this day, and Camilla’s life story almost serves as a cautionary tale. Nice photos and Camilla’s artwork are featured in the book. **With thanks to the University of Minnesota Press via NetGalley for the DDC for the purpose of review.

[Colleen Rodgers · Rating 5 out of 5]

people are so interesting and we should be gentle as we dissect them. this book delivered!!

[SundayAtDusk · Rating 3 out of 5]

When one gets a book from a university press, there is always a concern it may be too dry. That’s definitely not a problem with this book by Rachael Hanel. In fact, she confesses in the beginning that the book is “creative nonfiction”. From my reading experience, that usually means a lot of made-up dialogue. That’s not the case here, but instead is more like the author is speculating on what Camilla Hall was thinking at the time.

What was she thinking? That appears to be the main question in Ms. Hanel’s mind. How in the world does an average young woman from Minnesota end up belonging to a terrorist group that kills and kidnaps and rapes? The author is also from Minnesota, although she belongs to a younger generation, and is apparently enthralled by Camilla Hall and her life. Yes, enthralled. Anyone looking for an objective point of view needs to look elsewhere.

The author intensely wants the reader to have sympathy or empathy for Ms. Hall. She repeatedly brings up that Camilla Hall had three siblings who died before reaching adulthood from genetic diseases. She also includes various psychological profiles which question things that happened during her childhood, including her relationship with her parents. All good when you are analyzing why someone did something. But the general feeling I got is the author does not want anyone to negatively judge Ms. Hall or her parents.

No analysis is deeply explored. She had a love-hate relationship with her father? That’s pretty much all that is said about the matter. Any further analysis would possibly make her or her father responsible for something bad. The fact she was a lesbian also was not explored in any way, including how her parents felt about the matter. The fact she joined the SLA because her girlfriend was in it was definitely not to be seen as the only reason she joined. Doing so might damage the image of the strong-willed woman Ms. Hanel wanted everyone to picture. Alcohol, drugs, including marijuana? Not explored here, unless I missed it.

By the end of the book, I personally saw Camilla Hall as a person who probably had a messiah complex; not unusual for someone of her generation. Only, most with such complexes did not join terrorists groups. (They got over it or had a nervous breakdown.) She became a social worker after college to “help people”, but didn’t last long, even though she was very good at it. She moved to California and turned to art, which made her happy, but also probably made her feel guilty about not doing something really important to help others and change the world. Messiahs must help others and do something really important or their lives are meaningless.

They also think they will die young, because they have no interest in going traditional and marrying, buying a home, having kids. Moreover, they are emotionally exhausted and have been for some time due to childhood trauma. If she died as a terrorist, that was one quick way to go and an important way to go. No trivial, typical death for her. Only, the SLA was an extremely stupid radical group that first killed a school superintendent who definitely was not “an enemy of the people”. Moreover, it was led by a psycho man who was abusive towards women, and Camilla Hall considered herself a feminist. Huh? They killed, they kidnapped, they raped and showed no concern for innocent bystanders.

If Rachael Hanel wants to create such a caring portrait of someone who was part of such acts of violence, so be it. If she wishes she could go back in time and save Camilla Hall, as well as the “Manson girls”, from their bad decisions, one might suggest she has a bit of a messiah complex herself. It was Camilla Hall’s job to save herself, regardless if she possibly had survivor’s guilt or not since childhood. If she didn’t want to save herself, so be it, but she had no right to inflict harm on others, or aid and abet those who did so. Ms. Hanel describes at the end of the book how she visits the graves of Camilla Hall and her family members. She apparently sees it as showing true empathy for others. I’m afraid I see it more as a groupie visiting the grave of an infamous person.

(Note: I received a free e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.)

[Joy Riggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can we ever really know someone? What can loneliness and grief drive a person to do? These were questions I found myself pondering while reading Rachael Hanel’s compelling nonfiction book about a woman from a small town in Minnesota who became involved with the Symbionese Liberation Army in California in the 1970s. Hanel is a former journalist, and she skillfully weaves details of Camilla Hall’s life and violent death with the story of why Hanel devoted years to pursuing the subject. By the end, the reader is left with a greater understanding who Camilla was, and why it matters. Highly recommend!

[David Schwinghammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In NOT THE CAMILLA WE KNEW, author Rachael Hanel sets out to prove Camilla Hall was more of a revolutionary than the facts seem to prove.

Hanel held numerous interviews with Camilla’s parents, a cousin and a five hour interview with Kathleen Soliah (Sara Jane Olson) a member of the SLA who joined the SLA after Camilla was killed. She was apprehended almost thirty years later, now a suburban housewife with three kids. She got life in prison, but she didn’t know Camilla. Camilla parents destroyed a number of Camilla’s letters, and Kathleen proves to be more of a Chatty Kathy than anything. Hanel also digs up some of Camilla’s poems, but the ones she includes in the book don’t sound revolutionary at all.

Probably the most interesting comparison in the book was Hanel’s attempt to use Diana Oughton as evidence that a good girl like Camilla could go rogue. Oughton was a member of the Weathermen, a terrorist offshoot of Students for a Democratic Society, the SDS. Her lover Bill Ayers was a founding member of the Weatherman. Prior to joining the SDS, Diana graduated form Bryn Mawr and joined VISTA (Think the Peace Corps). She also spent time in Guatemala with revolutionaries there. Hanel uses a picture of Oughton as supposed evidence, Diana providing a revolutionary pose.

There is pretty strong evidence that Camilla, an outgoing, likable woman who at one time was a social worker who worked hard to get equitable pay for park workers in the Bay Area joined the SLA because she was in still in love with former lover Patty “Mizmoon” Soltysik. When SLA leader Donald DeFreeze escaped from prison, Patty provided a hide out in the same building where Camilla lived. Camilla had been planning to take a job as a gardener for a rich family prior to this. All of a sudden she’s driving a car as a lookout when the SLA kidnaps Patty Hearst. Later she was in the house during a shootout with the FBI and the police and dies supposedly charging the police with a gun.

No, the evidence suggests that Camilla was just a crazy fool in love and so was Diana Oughton who also died when a bomb she was making blew up in her face.

Hanel makes some solid arguments, the main one being that those people didn’t need to die surrounded by over four hundred policemen and FBI agents, gunned down by a torrent of bullets. An eight-year old boy was left behind by previous occupants of the house. They could have used the boy as a hostage, but they willingly let him go. Might the FBI have learned more about California revolutionaries from the survivors and their motivation if they had negotiated their surrender?

[Bill reilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can appreciate Ms. Hanel's twenty year project in researching how a young woman from a middle class background could become a radical involved in the kidnapping of Party Hearst. The problem is that a large portion of the book resorts to a Dr. Phil kind of psychobabble.
Camilla Hall was the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. Three siblings died in childhood and after graduating from college, Hall became a social worker in Minnesota. The work drained her emotionally and she escaped to California and worked as an artist. At Berkeley she became involved in a lesbian relationship and her partner introduced her to SLA founder, Donald DeFreeze.
Hall was gunned down by the police with her fellow SLA members and Patty Hearst wrote little of her in her published memoirs. She was described as the quietest member of the anarchist group.
The book is filled with speculation and does not answer the how and why of Camilla's complicated life.

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of Rachael Hanel’s book, Not the Camilla We Knew, captured my attention. Camilla Hall, born in 1945, grew up in Minnesota, solidly middle class, with loving parents, and various opportunities. She graduated from college and started a career. But as a young woman Camilla joined the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), an organization of domestic terrorists. Hanel's book title promised to give me the rest of Camilla's story because like many other people, I wonder how a person becomes radicalized. Camilla died in a shootout in Los Angeles in 1974. The SLA and the events before and after that shootout were widely reported in the news. Sometimes people involved in tragic events are either vilified or exalted, but reality is often murkier.

Hanel, through years of careful research and extensive interviews, delves into Camilla’s life, trying to understand why Camilla made bad choices. Hanel doesn't excuse Camilla's behavior, but rather tries to discover why Camilla, who grew up middle class with many advantages, decided to join a domestic terrorist group. Hanel interviewed Camilla’s parents, friends, and co-workers; spent numerous hours reading letters and documents in archives; and interviewed psychologists, hoping to piece together a picture of who Camilla was and why she joined a terrorist group.

Hanel is an excellent writer whose prose is a joy to read. Additionally, her background as a journalist and her ability to organize the information into a page-turning story, brings Camilla Hall’s story to life.

[Pam B Orren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book, to me, as Camilla Hall worked for Hennepin County Welfare a few years before I was hired to work in the same "Unwed Mother's Unit," and the book mentions both Al Carlson, my first supervisor, and Jean Bigelow, someone in that unit. Both of them became good friends, so it was interesting to see what they said about "Candy" at the time. I was hired in 1075, six years after she worked there, and several years after her death. People still talked about her then, and I always wondered the same thing the author did....how did she go from a peace loving, kind-hearted social worker to a radical member of the SLA? I really enjoyed reading about her, her family in MN, and about her experiences in California.

[Reader66 · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were many things I enjoyed about "Not the Camilla We Knew," and I'm in awe of the author's research skills. There are several photos in the book I've never seen before, along with content from interviews with people who actually knew Camilla Hall, a real pleasure in today's slapdash "journalism" era. It was very interesting to read details about someone who is usually cast as even less than a minor character in the bizarre saga that is the story of the Symbionese Liberation Army. The author definitely worked hard and succeeded in creating a more fleshed out (but still vastly incomplete) portrait of Camilla Hall. I also thought it was a nice touch to compare Camilla to Diana Oughton of the Weather Underground for context.

What I disliked was what I consider to be an excessive amount of implicit speculation in the text, given that it described actual events. Here are the opening sentences:

"Camilla Hall darted out of the burning house in South Central Los Angeles in the early evening of May 17, 1974. Her eyes burned from the tear gas lobbed inside the home by some of the more than four hundred Los Angeles police officers who, along with dozens of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents, surrounded the place. She took a big breath of fresh outdoor air." (page 1)

I saw no in text, endnote, or other reference citations to support these statements (even though they may be/likely are true). Hanel *does* acknowledge later in the text that a certain amount of speculation is inevitable, given that most of the principals in this story (Bill Harris and Emily Montague are curiously absent-I don't recall whether Hanel attempted to interview either of them or Patricia Hearst Shaw) are deceased. There are other points in the narrative where Hanel indicates clearly she is speculating about what may have happened or what Camilla's motivation may have been.

Overall, this book is a must for anyone interested in the leftist groups of the early 1970s, and the central premise of the book (What makes a seemingly ordinary person become a violent terrorist?) is highly relevant today.

[J Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the Camilla We Knew by Rachael Hanel tries to look beyond and below the headlines to understand how and why Camilla Hall ended up getting killed as a revolutionary.

Even with the years of research Hanel put into this project I'm not sure how possible it is to really know why someone makes life-changing decisions. I do think that this book offers a lot of valid suggestions and probably gets as close as is possible. I did not read this as an attempt to make me feel one way or another about Camilla but rather an attempt to help the reader understand just how much the things we experience in life can influence us. The same home, the same parents can generate completely different worldviews in two children, so even with conjecture about how her childhood affected her adult choices is open to debate.

I tend to agree with most of the larger points Hanel makes, namely because I think our decisions are influenced by what came before, so knowing the end and working backwards with that in mind can shed light on things that, looked at without the benefit of hindsight, might be dismissed or overlooked as just part of growing up with some good and some bad experiences.

While I would recommend this to readers with an interest in the psychology of radicalization as well as recent history, I think some readers who remember these events might be a little quick to claim that this is an attempt specifically to paint Camilla in a good light. If you bracket that predisposition I think you'll discover that this is more about giving us some insight into what might make anyone, regardless of background, choose radical action.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[John Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very interested in reading this book as soon as I heard about it. My parents were Lutheran missionaries to Tanzania, and Camilla's father, George Hall, was someone my father saw as a mentor as a professor at Gustavus Adolphus College at the time, encouraged my father to consider going into a mission work when he graduated, something he did for the next forty+ years. I often heard about George Hall and knew some of his books. Our families stories overlapped in Tanzania, St. Peter, MN, Gustavus Adolphus College and the Hall family are all buried in Resurrection Cemetery in St. Peter, MN, where my parents are buried, as well. The only time, I remember meeting George Hall was at a mission conference in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1974, soon after Camilla Hall was killed with other members of the Symbionese Liberation Army. I was struck by George Hall's openness and willingness to talk to this teenager despite this recent tragedy in his life.

The first half of the book brings out the events in Camilla's life from St. Peter to some years living in Tanganyika to the deaths of all her siblings and her moves from Minnesota to California as an adult and finally to her involvement with the SLA. In the second half of the book, Hanel explores her own questions on how someone who seemed so kind and innocent could become connected with a radical group like the SLA. It is a very thoughtful exploration of the lives of Camilla and her family and why her life might have ended so tragically.

[AnnieM · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by this book because I had read a lot about the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) mostly through the experience of Patty Hearst being kidnapped by them so was interested in learning more about why people voluntarily joined this organization. Camilla Hall grew up in a sort-of typical suburban family (though there was tragedy growing up which I won't reveal here). In the first part of the book, we learn about Camilla's childhood, college, early jobs, artistic pursuits, falling in love, etc. The author had access to interviews with people who knew her including her parents. She also was able to access letters Camilla wrote to her parents. When I got through two-thirds of the book, I thought it should end there. I kept reading but given the rest was more speculative and delved into the psychology of siblings and birth order and loss as well as comparing her story to Diana Oughton from the Weather Underground (we took a detour - though interesting- to learn about her life). So even though the title says "Not the Camilla We Knew" which is accurate, as a reader what we came away with is we still don't know who Camilla really is and what motivated her to join the SLA.

Thank you to Netgalley and the University of Minnesota Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Kperrymn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rachael Hanel, journalist and creative writing professor, takes readers with her as she follows her own curiosity about Camilla Hall, a young woman from St. Peter Minnesota, whose passion for social justice took her across the country, eventually leading to her joining the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), to participating in the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, and to her dying at age 29 in a police shootout that followed the kidnapping.
As a reader, I was curious about what drove Hanel, who had not been born at the time of these events, to delve into Camilla Hall's life with such dogged persistence. What happened, Hanel wants to know, to turn a bright, likable, socially conscious young woman into a domestic terrorist?
Hanel combines meticulous research with an inviting narrative style to entice readers to follow Camilla's story. As she does so, we can't help but see connections to people and events from today--like the people who participated in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. And Hanel's driving question evolves from How did this happen to Camilla? to "Who's next?" and "When?" Hanel's skills as a storyteller and her willingness to offer pieces of her own story enhance the historical narrative to form a compelling read, not to be missed.

[Neal Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Symbionese Liberation Army was a Californian urban guerrilla group. They were mostly women, and mostly artists and actors. Along with most of her comrades, Camilla Hall was killed in a prolonged shootout with Los Angeles police in 1974, the first such spectacle to be broadcast live from the scene.

The book tries to understand how Camilla, the daughter of a Midwest pastor, could change from mild gradualist politics, an election activist for Eugene McCarthy, to an armed militant who participated in the kidnap of Patty Hearst and fomenting armed revolution.

The author establishes various trains of thought to explain Hall’s fate. She rightly goes beyond the simplistic portrayal of her, in other books, as a naif who was enticed into the SLA by a more attractive and sophisticated lover. One idea is that Camilla, unconsciously, had survivor’s guilt from outliving her siblings, who died as children. Another is that she gave up on gradualism having seen too many times how the system failed people like her social work clients.

Overall, though, a strong picture doesn't emerge, which perhaps isn't surprising given that the book was published almost 50 years after Hall's death. Also, I don't mind the authorial voice intruding, but sometimes there's too much information.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I live in northern Minnesota, and I remember those times and events well. My mother-in-law, a Minnesota minister’s wife, was fascinated by Camilla Hall, who was a Minnesota minister’s daughter; I wish she was still here to read Hanel’s book, which is both extensively researched and beautifully written (and Rachael Hanel is a Minnesotan). After finishing this illuminating story of examined and missing pieces my emotional reaction to Hall, herself, is still a baffled what the heck?! (similar to that of the many people interviewed by Hanel) - evidently the judgmental me of 1974 has not become more tolerant over the past near-half century. Anyway - although I lend books out a lot I probably won’t with this one: it is truly fascinating and I’d like to keep it around. I love it and will read it again. But there’s more: Hanel’s We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down: Memoirs of a Gravedigger’s Daughter affected me deeply (another book I keep around and don’t lend out). Hanel refers to her memoir from time to time during Hall’s story, and that made my reading of this exquisite piece of research and writing a paired and breathtaking experience. Highly recommend, paired or on its own.

[Koren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Camilla Hall was a little-known player in the Symbionese Liberation Army and played a role in the kidnapping of Patty Hearst and was killed in a shootout with the police. She was brought to the author's attention because Camilla spent some of her childhood close to where the author lives. It is also about an hour away from where I live so it was interesting to read about places I was familiar with. I got a kick out of reading that she got together with one of Camilla's friends in a coffee shop in Jackson, Minnesota. There is only one coffee shop in Jackson and it is right across the street from where I work so I stop in there all the time. It was also interesting to read about the St. Peter, Minnesota tornado just a day after the 25th anniversary of the tornado. Anyway, Camilla was a small town girl who grew up to be a terrorist. The author goes in depth to explore how a normal small-town girl found her way into a terrorist organization. Was it nature or nurture or something else? We will probably never know for sure.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember attending a reading by Rachael Hanel after she'd published her brilliant memoir We'll Be The Last Ones to Let You Down. An audience member asked her what she was going to write next, and she said something like (I'm paraphrasing here), "I'm not sure I have any other stories. This is the one I had to tell."

And here we get this AMBITIOUS book from her!

I enjoyed that the book was an historical study and also an exploration of Camilla's state of mind and motivation in joining, then staying with, the SLA. And I liked reading about the author's experiences in gathering info and meeting people who knew Camilla. In this way, the book was about the process of how books actually come into being.

[Naomi Helen Yaeger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written and researched piece of nonfiction about the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). It's easy to read. If you grew up in the 1970s or were around and watching the TV news during the 1970s, you probably recall the 1974 kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army. If you don't, Patty Hearst is an American heiress who was kidnapped and indoctrinated by this left-wing radical group that terrorized California in 1974. It was in the news every day, and the transformation of this heiress into a terrorist was shocking. This book studies how a nice Minnesota girl also got wrapped up in the SLA.

[Renee Hilgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was intrigued to learn about Camilla, because about the only thing I remember about that time period was the name Patty Hearst and not much beyond that really. Rachael does a great job connecting the dots that made up Camilla’s life in such a way that it was easy for someone like me, who had difficulty grasping historical events, to read and understand.
This book delves into the complex nature of relationships and events in a person’s life that shape them into becoming what and who they are and the paths that they choose.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're looking for a memoir or historical fiction, this is not the book for you. It is well-researched, but the author takes significant liberties in "what Camilla was thinking and feeling." It doesn't work. It's neither fictional enough to be historical fiction nor factual enough to be a biography. I think Hanel would have done better to write a fact-based biography and not try to bring her creative writing background into the mix.

[Humbledaisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very sad book. Insightful in that the young woman profiled had a lot of hopes for her life and society in general but definitely took the wrong path.

A very good interview with the author on the Oct, 2023 episode of Minnesota’s Most Notorious podcast. I believe it is also listed under the podcaster’s other collection, Most Notorious.

It was very helpful to hear in her own voice as the author explored her motivations and connections with Camilla.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never had heard of this woman, despair residing in Minnesota since 1976. I was in college in Michigan at the time of Patty Hearst’s kidnapping. My roommate claims that a photo she had taken of me prompted a call to the FBI by the company that developed the film due to a vague resemblance to Patty. And the Soliah/Olson arrest was obviously very big news here in Minnesota. One local radio show host referred to Olson as “our little terrorist”.

[Nadia Giordana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed learning about Camilla Hall and her involvement in the SLA. The author's thought processes and conjectures about areas of Camilla's life, where there was little to go on, helped move the story along. I came away feeling like the author captured a good slice of the essence of Camilla.

[Aimée Bissonette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rachael Hanel's work never disappoints, but the research she put into this book and her winning narrative writing style make Camilla's story so engaging. Why might a small town, Midwest girl leave behind her art and her family and turn to violence? Read this captivating book and find out. This story is as relevant now as it was when the real life events occurred.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I vaguely remember the SLA and kidnapping of Patty Hearst in the 1970’s. Interesting research into a MN woman who was involved, digging into her life and motivations since she was killed in the shoot out with police.

[Diane W · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book captivated me and left me wanting to know more about Camilla and other members of the SLA. True stories are always fascinating and this one doesn’t disappoint.

[Bob Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mystifying account of the life of a young pacifist who somehow ends up in the ever so violent SLA. No answers but lots of questions. Fascinating.

[RoseAnn Siegmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Camilla's shadows when growing up affect her decisions in her adult life. Confusion and ultimately peer pressure. I heard about Patty Hearst growing up but not about the Symbionese Liberation Army.

[Karen Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I interviewed the author of this book on my public radio show because she is a professor at the University. I found this especially interesting because the main character, Camilla, is from St. Peter, MN, a city just down the road from us.

Author Rachael Hanel did extensive research for this book, to tell a story of a small-town girl who got involved in a story which drew international attention. We would never have heard of Camilla, or known anything about her role in the Patty Hearst kidnapping and the Symbionese Liberation Army. By telling her story, we get an intimate look into the minds of individuals to better understand how/why they become involved with extremist groups.

Link to my interview with the author: https://share.transistor.fm/s/69780646

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Not the Camilla We Knew" by Rachael Hanel, is a nonfiction profile/portrait of Camilla Hall, a woman from St. Peter, MN, who became a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army (the name Patty Hearst might ring a bell).

There's something about Hanel's approach that's been nagging at me (in a good way). It's like it's a mystery where we already know the end--the plot has been revealed--but the real mystery (the true plot) is the discovery of who this main character is. The WHAT is important, but not as important as the WHY, which is not as important as the WHO.

I wrote the two paragraphs above (slightly different) when I was 2/3 through the book, and, after finishing the book, it still stands. I know some people read simply for exhilarating plots and action (yo, this one has both!), but I read for humanity, both my own and to understand more of others'. This book, as you can guess, works just so.

Check it out, y'all.