The Tortured Bond of Alice Sebold and the Man Wrongfully Convicted of Her Rape

Written By Madelyn S

The New Yorker, May 22, 2023: The Tortured Bond of Alice Sebold and the Man Wrongfully Convicted of Her Rape

“…She was fearful of taking in new details too quickly. ‘It’s not just that the past collapses,’ she said. ‘The present collapses, and any sense of good I ever did collapses. It feels like it’s a whole spinning universe that has its own velocity and, if I just stick my finger in it, it will take me—and I don’t know where I’ll end up.’

“She was struggling to figure out what to call Broadwater. She had avoided his name for forty years. ‘Broadwater’ felt too cold. ‘Anthony’ felt like a level of closeness she didn’t deserve. And yet their lives were intertwined. ‘The rapist came out of nowhere and shaped my entire life,’ she said. ‘My rape came out of nowhere and shaped his entire life.’

“Sebold and Broadwater had defined themselves through stories that were in conflict. But Broadwater, too, felt that they were bound together, the same moments creating the upheaval in their lives. ‘We both went through the fire,’ he said. ‘You see movies about rape and the young lady is scrubbing herself in the shower, over and over. And I’m saying to myself, “Damn, I feel the same way.” Will it ever be gone from my memory, my mind, my thoughts? No. And it’s not going to be gone for her, either.’”

Madelyn S
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