Not the Camilla We Knew, Rachael Hanel
Not the Camilla We Knew, Rachael Hanel
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

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

Author: Rachael Hanel

Narrator: Tanya Eby

Unabridged: 7 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/05/2023

Synopsis

Behind every act of domestic terrorism there is someone's child whose life took a radical turn for reasons that often remain mysterious. Camilla Hall is a case in point: a pastor's daughter from small-town Minnesota who eventually joined the ranks of radicals in the notorious Symbionese Liberation Army before dying in a shootout with Los Angeles Police in May 1974. How could a "good girl" 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.

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 research and interviews, Hanel pieces together Camilla's transformation.

Camilla Hall's story is of interest for what it reveals about the forces of radicalization. But as Hanel ventures ever further into Camilla's past, her book becomes an intriguing, disturbing, and ultimately deeply moving journey into the dark side of America's promise.

Contains mature themes.

About Rachael Hanel

Rachael Hanel is associate professor of creative nonfiction and journalism at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her book We'll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down: Memoir of a Gravedigger's Daughter, also from the University of Minnesota Press, was a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award. Her essays have been published in print and online in the anthology Love and Profanity: A Collection of True, Tortured, Wild, Hilarious, Concise, and Intense Tales of Teenage Life; Slag Glass City; Midwestern Gothic; WLA: War, Literature, and the Arts; the Bellingham Review; and New Delta Review.

Reviews

Goodreads review by SundayAtDusk

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......more

Goodreads review by Colleen

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

Goodreads review by Joy

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 Californ......more

Goodreads review by David

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......more

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List