<div>New York Times Bestseller: The &ldquo;compelling&rdquo; story of Frances Schreuder, who persuaded her son to kill her multimillionaire father, Franklin Bradshaw (The Washington Post Book World). In August of 1983 Shana Alexander, acclaimed journalist and chronicler of the lives and criminal trials of Jean Harris and Patty Hearst, wrote to New York City ballet patron Frances Schreuder on the eve of her murder trial. Schreuder stood accused of unlawfully causing the death of her father, Franklin Bradshaw, and of soliciting, encouraging, and aiding her prep school&ndash;student son in the homicide in the hope of financial gain. Alexander never received a response, but she flew to Salt Lake City and met with Schreuder&rsquo;s mother, the matriarch of the Mormon dynasty&mdash;eighty-year-old Berenice Bradshaw. Nutcracker is the true story of this crime&mdash;the twisting four-year police investigation, the derailed cover-up and conspiracy, the dramatic trials. It is also the tale of a family riven by greed and madness. Drawing on interviews with all the major players, Alexander paints a powerful portrait of a psychopathic woman driven by avarice, so depraved that she persuaded her own son to commit grand-patricide. A finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime, Nutcracker is &ldquo;a Chekovian family tragedy [that] builds in intensity around this uniquely twisted woman&rdquo; (The Washington Post Book World). </div>

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Nutcracker

<div>Acclaimed 60 Minutes commentator and true-crime author Shana Alexander turns her journalist&rsquo;s eye to her own unconventional family&mdash;and herself&mdash;in this fascinating, moving memoir Shana Alexander spent most of her life trying to figure out her enigmatic parents. Milton Ager was a famous songwriter whose creations included &ldquo;Ain&rsquo;t She Sweet&rdquo; and &ldquo;Happy Days Are Here Again.&rdquo; Cecelia Ager was a film critic and Variety columnist. They were a glamorous Jazz Age couple that moved in charmed circles with George and Ira Gershwin, Dorothy Parker, and Jerome Kern. They remained together for fifty-seven years, and yet they lived separate lives. This wise, witty, unflinchingly candid memoir is also a revealing account of Alexander&rsquo;s own life, from her successful career as a writer and national-news commentator to her troubled marriages and emotionally wrenching love affairs. She shares insights about growing up with a cold, hypercritical mother, her relationship with her younger sister, the suicide of her adopted daughter, and her reconciliation with her parents after a twenty-year estrangement. &ldquo;I had to do a lot of detective work to uncover the truth about my parents&rsquo; lives,&rdquo; Alexander said. &ldquo;I knew almost nothing about them as people. <a>But by the end they really did become my best friends.&rdquo; </a> </div>

Shana Alexander
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Books By Shana Alexander (2 Books)

Nutcracker

Happy Days

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© 2024 OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA

Books By Shana Alexander (2 Books)

Nutcracker

Happy Days

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Corporate

© 2024 OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA