Houghton Mifflin
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This 440-page book tells the heart-wrenching story of the Ramona family and the trial over recovered memories of child sexual abuse. Moira Johnston, an investigative journalist, covered the entire seven-week trial each day and the book is detailed and thorough. The case made legal history when Gary Ramona sued the therapists whom he claimed had induced false memories of abuse in his daughter, Holly, and won. The case put recovered memories on trial and established that third parties can sue for damages.

The case began when Holly Ramona sought treatment in 1989 for depression and bulimia. Holly also had vague concerns about sexual abuse and her therapist, Marche Isabella, told her that most cases of bulimia were caused by childhood sexual abuse. Holly's vague concerns soon were transformed into images of rape by her father. Holly didn't know whether to trust these images, so her therapist and psychiatrist gave her sodium amytal. The images became more vivid and Holly cut off contact with her father, who denied the abuse. Holly, who also had read Bass and Davis's The Courage to Heal ()(), accused her father of raping her repeatedly and forcing her to have intercourse with a dog and said that he was a Satanist who had killed people.

Gary Ramona's wife filed for divorce, he lost his $400,000 job in the wine industry along with his reputation in the community, friends and business associates deserted him, and the fortune that he had worked to build disappeared as he fought to clear his name. In a malpractice case that broke legal ground, Gary Ramona sued Holly's therapists and eventually the jury awarded him $500,000.

Johnston describes each person's experiences with understanding and sympathy and she believes that all were telling the truth from their perspectives. She discusses memory research and the testimony of the experts on each side. The verdict is seen as a warning to therapists and hospitals about the dangers in doing recovered memory therapy.

The book closes with a good set of endnotes, an excellent bibliography, and a useful index. No attorney or mental health professional who deals with recovered memory should fail to read this book.

Reviewed by LeRoy G. Schultz, Emeritus Professor, West Virginia University.