BKMT READING GUIDES
The Road Out of Hell: Sanford Clark and the True Story of the Wineville Murders
by Anthony Flacco
Hardcover : 304 pages
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1 member has read this book
From 1926 to 1928, Gordon Stewart Northcott committed at least twenty ...
Introduction
"And you wonder: How the hell did this guy go on to be a loving father and grandfather? How did he bury all that crap? That's a whole story in itself.Clint Eastwood, director of Changeling, regarding Sanford Clark
From 1926 to 1928, Gordon Stewart Northcott committed at least twenty murders on a chicken ranch outside of Los Angeles. His nephew, Sanford Clark, was held captive there from the age of 13 to 15, and was the sole surviving victim of the killing spree. Here, acclaimed crime writer Anthony Flacco-using never-before-heard information from Sanford's son Jerry Clark-tells the real story behind the case that riveted the nation.
Forced by Northcott to take part in the murders, Sanford carried tremendous guilt all his life. Yet, despite his youth and the trauma, he helped gain some justice for the dead and their families by testifying at Northcott's trial?which led to his conviction and execution. It was a shocking story, but perhaps the most shocking part of all is the extraordinarily ordinary life Clark went on to live as a decorated WWII vet, a devoted husband of 55 years, a loving father, and a productive citizen.
In dramatizing one of the darkest cases in American crime, Flacco constructs a riveting psychological drama about how Sanford was able to detoxify himself from the evil he?d encountered, offering the ultimately redemptive story one man's remarkable ability to survive a nightmare and emerge intact.
Excerpt
OneThirteen-year-old Sanford Clark felt his stomach lurch when he realized that his mother was really going to send him away. He stared down at the floor and fought to control his breathing while his brain reeled from the news. Everything about it felt wrong. The atmosphere in the room took on a poisonous feel, as if a thin mist of acid had just rolled in through the window. He knew that his mother and uncle were telling him a pack of lies. It was all so off-kilter and strange that the moment belonged in a bad dream. ...
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Discussion Questions
1. This story began over eighty years ago, still within the lifetimes of certain older people, and yet consider the isolation that so effectively cut Sanford off from escape. How have attitudes changed among the public regarding runaway children, in the sense of the differences in response that he might have expected by appealing for help from a random stranger, then -- as opposed to today?2. Can you think of any way that he could have escaped from that place earlier than he did? What sort of risks would he have to take and what obstacles would he have encountered in that time and place?
3. Here’s the killer question: Could you do it? If you had two years of such madness and violence inflicted upon you, could you emerge back into the world? If so, where would your internal support come from?
Suggested by Members
Notes From the Author to the Bookclub
An note from the author to BookMovement members: After director Clint Eastwood finished the historically accurate film “Changeling,” he marveled over the boy Sanford Clark: “And you wonder: How the hell did this guy go on to be a loving father and grandfather? How did he bury all that crap? That's a whole story in itself." That story is here in The Road Out Of Hell, and Eastwood’s question is the same one that drives the book. The Wineville murders and the madness of serial killer Gordon Stewart Northcott followed Sanford Clark from his early teen years, throughout every day of his life until his demise at seventy-eight. But the hell that descended onto him at the Wineville murder farm isn’t the most fascinating aspect of his story – rather it is his lifelong recovery, made possible by the steadfast support of his sister Jessie, who nearly died in rescuing him from the murder farm, to his wife June, who was his equally steadfast partner for fifty-five years. He lived his life determined to use every day to earn the second chance that was mercifully given to him. This thoroughly documented story shows how he achieved it, using aspects of human nature that are common to us all.Book Club Recommendations
Recommended to book clubs by 4 of 4 members.
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