Tiffany Jackson’s Allegedly tells the story of Mary Addison, who was convicted of killing a 3-month old baby when she was nine years old. Mary’s mother was the child’s babysitter, and Mary was very devoted to the child, which made the murder all the more shocking. She is released from criminal custody when she is almost 16 and transferred to a group home. The home is run by a horrible woman and populated with mostly vicious other girls who torment and ostracize Mary. After Mary turns 16, she gets pregnant by her boyfriend Ted, a baby that she desperately wants and vows to protect. The state will take away her baby unless Mary’s innocence is proved, so she connects with a lawyer, Ms. Cora, who takes on her case.
The book reads like a Young Adult novel, which didn’t put me off so much as bore me a little. The tension was flaccid for the first half of the book, as I figured out some of the secrets Mary held. There was a kind of cringy attempt to have the young characters use slang and common adolescent expressions like “mad,” which was repetitive and mad annoying. When I reached the half-way point, it felt like the book picked up. Even though there were facts I knew, there became a sense that there was even more to the story, so I eagerly read on.
Mary is a complicated character, which did make her fairly compelling. Certainly there is the issue of the murder, but there are other behaviors that suggest something deeper. She is determined to pull herself out of her circumstances when she’s released, by going to college, marrying her boyfriend, and taking care of her baby. She is also very passive when under stress, except for the rare times she lashes out in anger. I’m not sure I ever totally warmed up to her, but I do think that was the author’s intent.
It wasn’t until the end of the book that I completely changed my mind about the book’s effectiveness. It was the kind of ending that makes you re-evaluate the entire book and re-frame things. For me, that was a surprise and also satisfying. I recommend this as a quick, suspenseful read.