One Day She'll Darken by Fauna Hodel

Author: Fauna Hodel 

Title: One Day She'll Darken 

publisher: Graymalkin Media

Published: 2008

Pages: 336

genre: True Crime / Memoir 

 

     The Black Dahlia Murder is near-legend in the annals of true crime. But behind the shocking case of a young actress's gruesome slaying lies the story of another woman. Was Fauna Hodel the child of incest, and the catalyst for a sensational trial that left her well-to-do family scarred by scandal, even as the accused sexual predator walked free? Taken as an infant from her teenage mother, Fauna was placed in the care of a working-class black woman, who raised the white child as her own. Together, as a close-knit mother and daughter, they weathered years of poverty and bigotry, alcoholism and sexual abuse, pregnancy and even death‚" until the time came for Fauna to seek out her real mother, and uncover her lost past. But as Fauna will learn, some truths don't want to be told.

      I'm a big fan of true crime although my preferred method of intake is probably from documentaries. With this said from time to time I do pick up a true crime book to get stuck into. Now when it comes to One Day She'll Darken I had been on a bit of a streak of works about the Black Dahlia both real and fictional. And had planned to move on completely from the topic. It is after all a gruesome thing to spend too much time reading about. But then this book came up as a if you like this one you might also want to give this a read. Now Funa Hodel was a name that I had not come across before so I was more than a little curious as to how this woman was going to fit into one of America's most notorious murders. I had at this point not made the connection to her possible father/grandfather well know states within the case. I also decide that for once I was going to go into his book completely blind. After all, I knew the bone of this case inside and out from the countless other telling of what took place so what did I have to lose. 

     As it was to turn out I could not have been more wrong about the book I was about to read. Whilst this does very briefly touch on the sad case of Elizabeth Short this is a book about a young girl torn from her family before she even knew who they were and trust into a life that was not meant to be hers. It is also safe to say that it touches on many a subject that will be sensitive to more than a few readers. This is after all the tale of a little white girl raised by an African American family at the height of the civil rights era. It was for me an interesting story to read. After all, this is not one I would imagine many can compare to. The whole situation sounds like that of an old-school fairytale. The daughter of a rich family who was sent to live away with those of less means. But unlike those stories here her adopted mother I believe really did try her best to raise Funa the best she could through all the troubles that were to follow. I honestly can't believe what it must have taken from all those involved to care for the life of this little girl who had no connection to them until the day she was thrust upon them. 

     Fauna has given her all to put over her life into this body of work and try to help us understand all that happened to her. Whilst her life can never have been called an easy ride I did come out of this book believing that she did have people who loved her the best way they could. You can see this in the warmth with which she talks about certain people. But Hodel has also chosen to not shy away from the reality of these people. Good or bad it makes its way into these pages. And I guess that is the reality of people, well have a little of both in us and seldom are things as easy as we wish they could be. But what we get then is a deep sense of who these people were and the world they lived in. We are left then with a work that is obviously deeply personal to the author but I think she has also captured a time and place that has slipped into the mists of time. Even if the bigotry that takes place has sadly not gone the same way. 

     This was a book that I took to very quickly and one that brought me such joy and sadness in equal measure. It always surprises me how much we can learn from another life and Hodel I believe has tried to give us an honest account of hers. Now if you are looking for another seedy tale of the Black Dahlia then walk away because this is not the book for you. The only connection here is through George Hodel who may or may not have been the killer. On the other hand, if you are looking for a story of how no matter how dysfunctional a family can look they still are rooting for each other. One that shows how even with no biological connection that family bond is as strong as any. Then this might just be the book for you.