The Other Side: A Memoir

Image of The Other Side: A Memoir
Author(s): 
Release Date: 
July 15, 2014
Publisher/Imprint: 
Tin House Books
Pages: 
232
Reviewed by: 

The Other Side is one woman's recounting of a traumatic incident filled with raw emotion and horror. Johnson confronts her demons with this brave and courageous story, ostensibly in the hope of purging this horrific time in her life and allowing herself to heal.”

Like many young college students, Lacy Johnson looked forward to having a good time as well as wanting to have a meaningful relationship. She thought she found this with her teacher's assistant—a man twice her age.

The two develop a friendship and soon a steamy affair ensues. Lacy moves in with him and they travel internationally, enjoying many adventures. But over time Lacy begins to perceive the true person under the charming facade.

She decides to end the relationship she is having with "The Man I Used to Live With" as she refers to him in her story, but one night he kidnaps her, holding her captive in a soundproof room in the basement apartment he rents. After raping her repeatedly, he aims to kill her:      

"‘You won't escape.’ He whispers this with his lips near my ear, my hair in his hand, holding the stun gun to my throat, in the place where blood enters my face through the jaw. I hope, but do not pray to God, that he does not pull the trigger.

"‘I'm going to rape you now,’ he says while I undress. ‘Or I'm sure that's what you'll call it, anyway.’ In the corner of the room there are several sheets of paper folded into a neat square: a letter he'll read to me after he's bolted me into the chair, after he's fed me a turkey sandwich, his hands hot and sticky with his own semen. While I'm swallowing and choking and spitting it out he explains that I'll call My Good Friend to tell her I've decided to take her back."

The place where she is held prisoner is described as such: "The room, maybe a bedroom under any other circumstances, is small. Thick blue Styrofoam covers every surface but the gray-carpeted floor: the walls, the ceiling, the door. I can see no windows, but I'm not looking for them yet. All I see is the moment of my death, not far away.

"In the middle of the room there's a giant wooden chair constructed of two-by-fours. Like an electric chair. A hole in the seat opens to a bucket underneath. Two steel u-bolts are attached to the thick wooden arms with galvanized fencing staples. A chock collar hangs from the headrest."

After raping Lacy many times, he leaves the apartment on an errand, and she manages to free herself. She rushes to the police station and upon hearing her story, they return to the scene, taking her along. They then post a warrant for his arrest. But he proves to be elusive.

Lacy struggles to appear healed after her horrific experience and attempts to make her visits to a therapist productive. She will not disclose her torture, hoping to demonstrate she is over it. Prescribed medication to help overcome her trauma, for the most part she exists on these pills while residing with "The Older Sister.” Though she appears to unconsciously blot out her nightmare, thinking this is the best way to recover, she is emotionally damaged.

Soon, Lacy progresses to attempt to live a normal life and meets a man whom she refers to as "The Strange Man." In general, she exploits him for sex, but four months after her kidnapping, he proposes and she agrees, "not because I love The Strange Man, but because it's what I need." The two marry though the marriage does not last. How can any relationship survive after what she experienced, especially seeing she tries to deny it ever happened?

The memoir contains vulgarity and sexual content, which may seem offensive to some, but truly exemplifies the author's terror. It is written in her first-person voice with locations and names of other participants unknown. Flashbacks from before and after her ordeal add to the scenario, presenting questions while allowing for empathy along with shock over her persecution. Insight into how the police handled this crime discloses unexpected and shocking information from her offender's past.

The Other Side is one woman's recounting of a traumatic incident filled with raw emotion and horror. Johnson confronts her demons with this brave and courageous story, ostensibly in the hope of purging this horrific time in her life and allowing herself to heal.