SPECTRAL EVIDENCE: The Romona Case; Incest, Memory, and Truth on Trial in Napa Valley

Relates the ordeal of one family torn apart by a daughter's claim of sexual abuse by her father, which she remembered through her therapists' recovered memory techniques

An utterly captivating story of wine, wealth, and a family destroyed by accusations of incest. Johnston (Roller Coasters, 1990, etc.) cuts through an amazingly tangled web of recovered memories and warring therapists to bring to life the story of the Ramona family. Gary and Stephanie Ramona were enjoying the American Dream in Napa Valley, where Gary had a top sales job at Mondavi. But their daughter Holly developed bulimia in high school. A random choice led her to Marche Isabella, a newly minted therapist with no training in eating disorders or depression. She first met Holly in 1989, just as a tidal wave of recovered memories--visual images purported by some therapists to be repressed memories of childhood abuse--began. Soon Holly was taking sodium amytal, a questionable form of therapy, and declared she had been raped repeatedly by Gary. The stunning lack of proof (including the fact that Hollys hymen was practically intact) was no obstacle to what became a Job-like turn of events for Gary: His wife and three daughters left him, his newly constructed dream house was sold for legal fees, and he was fired from Mondavi. Holly filed suit against her father, and he, devastated, filed a malpractice lawsuit agains her therapists. His suit was ultimately successful, and Johnston offers high drama in her account of jury selection, competing expert witnesses, and courtroom testimony. Her research into memory science is meticulous, and she does a brilliant job of presenting both sides to this story, presenting Gary as not the best of fathers, but no rapist, and Stephanie as a weak-willed trophy wife whose long-brewing anger at Gary found its expression in incest accusations. Johnston is a bit thin on some of the legal context for this case. Still, a frightening look into what happens when pop psychology is mistaken for therapy, and when the dubious fruits of that therapy are mistaken for truth. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In 1994, Gary Ramona became the first nonpatient allowed to sue psychotherapists, alleging damage to himself resulting from negligent treatment of his daughter. With emotions running high on both sides of the recovered-memory debate, this was a landmark event, impacting the counseling profession as well as other court cases. Investigative journalist Johnston centers the story of the complicated legal battle following Holly Ramona's accusation of childhood sexual abuse by her father within an exploration of the larger social climate and the latest developments in memory-related scientific research. Johnston crafts a compelling narrative from interviews with family, neighbors, jurors, and scientists, personal observations of the trial, and descriptions from court transcripts and depositions. All sides of the story are presented, revealing the complexities of a situation that pits father against daughter, major insurance money against a single individual, and the experience of clinicians against laboratory research. Asserting her own view without being pedantic, Johnston is meticulous in identifying her sources. Grace Fill