Little Pink House: A True Story of Defiance and Courage
Written by Jeff Benedict
Narrated by Maggi-Meg Reed
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Little did she know that the City of New London, desperate to revive its flailing economy, wanted to raze her house and the others like it that sat along the waterfront in order to win a lucrative Pfizer pharmaceutical contract that would bring new business into the city. Kelo and fourteen neighbors flat out refused to sell, so the city decided to exercise its power of eminent domain to condemn their homes, launching one of the most extraordinary legal cases of our time, a case that ultimately reached the United States Supreme Court.
In Little Pink House, award-winning investigative journalist Jeff Benedict takes us behind the scenes of this case -- indeed, Suzette Kelo speaks for the first time about all the details of this inspirational true story as one woman led the charge to take on corporate America to save her home.
Jeff Benedict
Jeff Benedict is the bestselling author of seventeen nonfiction books. He’s also a film and television producer. He is the coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestseller Tiger Woods. The book was the basis of the Emmy-nominated HBO documentary Tiger, which Benedict executive produced. The Dynasty, the definitive inside story of the New England Patriots under Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, and Tom Brady, was a New York Times bestseller. The book is the basis of a forthcoming ten-part documentary series for Apple TV+, which Benedict is executive producing. His critically acclaimed book Poisoned is the basis of a Netflix documentary, which Benedict executive produced. His legal thriller Little Pink House was adapted into a motion picture starring Catherine Keener and Jeanne Tripplehorn. Benedict wrote Steve Young’s New York Times bestselling autobiography QB, which was the basis of an NFL Films documentary. Benedict’s upcoming biography of LeBron James will be published in 2023.
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Reviews for Little Pink House
28 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The story behind the Kelo case that gave communities broad rights to eminent domain. The "Little Pink House" is Ms. Kelo's home that she was trying save from the wrecking ball. The City of New London wanted to take it and the rest of her neighborhood for redevelopment into an upscale hotel and retail area to complement a nearby redevelopment for Pfizer. She would not leave and took the legal battle to the Supreme Court.The view is clearly one-sided, from that of Ms. Kelo. The officials of the local development agency are portrayed as evil single-minded, power-hungry schemers, willing to do anything to get their way. Even if the view is only half-correct, their actions are very bad.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It was a pretty engaging read about compelling subject matter, but there was one thing that annoyed me to no end. All of the major players were referred to by their last names except for the two women, who were only referred to by their first names. I could sort of understand it for Susette Kelo, since she is the sympathetic lead figure. But referring to Claire Gaudiani, the head of the New London Development Corp, almost exclusively as Claire seemed like a subtle way to demean and belittle her, especially compared to the other pro-development forces who were given a more even-handed depiction.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When Susette Kelo’s five boys grew up and moved out of the rural house she shared with her husband it became apparent that their marriage was no longer working. Susette made the decision to leave him and move out on her own. Having also made the decision to use no money from their joint account all Susette was able to afford was a small fixer upper on the waterfront in New London, Connecticut.Around the same time Susette purchased her new home and began to fix it up. The New London Development Corporation was formulating a plan to re-develop the waterfront which included the Ft. Trumbull area where Susette’s house was located by selling the land to the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. When Susette and more than a few of her neighbors refused to sell, the city and the NLDC tried to take their homes using eminent domain, the law which allows the state to seize a citizen's private property for public use. What resulted was court case that made it all the way to the Supreme Court and a fight that lasted over 9 years. Blurb: “In Little Pink House, award-winning investigative journalist Jeff Benedict takes us behind the scenes of this case -- indeed, Susette Kelo speaks for the first time about all the details of this inspirational true story as one woman led the charge to take on corporate America to save her home.“The amazing spirit of Susette Kelo and the other families that refused to leave is so moving. They refused to back down when it seemed impossible that they would ever win. I admire they way Susette showed no sign of weakness in front of the big corporation and the rest of her opposition. The news stories about the case became national news and the Supreme Court ruling became one of the most unpopular rulings of all time. Since this case states either have or are considering amendments to the eminent domain law which prohibit the state turning over land seized under the guise of public use over to private corporations.My review is based on the abridged audio version which was read by Maggi-Meg Reed. I think that listening to this as opposed to reading gave me a better mental picture of Susette as fighter and a strong woman to admire. I highly recommend this book to readers of all genres as it is an inspirational story.