Restless Souls: The Sharon Tate Family's Account of Stardom, the Manson Murders, and a Crusade for Justice – An Intimate True Crime Memoir of Hope and Survival

This book brings to life the Tate family. The style of the writing in the book is excellent and the content is eye-opening, as things are revealed as never before. We see a more complete picture of who Sharon Tate really was in life. We learn about her complicated and fascinating relationships with her father, P.J.; her mother, Doris; her younger sister, Patti; her husband Roman Polanski; her film producer, Martin Ransohoff, the man who was going to make Sharon a movie star; and her former boyfriend and close friend until the end, Jay Sebring. Curiously, though, Sharon's other sister, Debra, is barely mentioned at all for unknown reasons; nor is Phillipe Forquet, the French actor with whom Sharon had a disastrous and abusive relationship in her early days in Hollywood before Jay Sebring entered her life. Forquet isn't mentioned at all, not even in passing. But neither of these omissions detract from the overall narrative. For me it is Lt. Col. Paul Tate ("P.J."), Sharon's father, who emerges as the most fascinating character, but the entire family seems to come to life reading this excellent book. It reads like a novel but it's all non-fiction. The struggle that P.J., Doris and Patti went through in the aftermath of their beloved daughter and sister's senseless, brutal murder will touch your heart and soul.

I found this book to be very interesting, as I read "Helter Skelter" by the prosecutor in the case, Vincent Bugliosi, when it came out. This book was written by Sharon Tate's niece and a friend of the family. It describes the non-stop efforts of both Sharon's mom and sister to make sure that none of the murderers would ever get parole. Since 1969, one of the killers has died in prison, Susan Atkins, but sadly, Sharon's mom and sister have both died also. Brie, the niece, believes the cancers were brought on by the unrelenting years of stress dealing with victims of terrible crimes, starting anti-crime groups, and interacting with some of the perpetrators of the crimes such as Charles Watson and Susan Atkins. At the time the guilty parties were convicted, they all were sentenced to death, but that was overturned in 1982, so the sentences were commuted to life in prison. To date, except for a very minor member, NONE of the criminals have been paroled or even come close to it. The one who did was able to tell officials where a missing man's body was buried, so a deal was struck. I noticed some differences in this and the Bugliosi book, but I found it a fascinating and heart wrenching story. The only point I disagree with Ms. Tate on is regarding Linda Kasabian (Yanna the Witch) who was horrified when she learned that everyone in the house on Cielo Drive were to be murdered. Ms. Tate questioned if Mrs. Kasabian was so horrified, why didn't she call 911? Well, I would have to say that after ALL the phone lines to the home were cut before the murders, and the closest neighbor was over two miles away, how would Ms. Kasabian have done this? I am fairly certain that Mr Watson had the car keys and why would he give them to anyone present? I understand Ms. Tate's deep sorrow and pain, but in this particular instance I felt she could have been a bit more forgiving of this one woman, who after all, was the prosecution's star witness, more or less. I am certain she feared for her life just by the fact that she testified for the prosecution. Certainly, many of Manson's followers feared him and each other, and they were all heavy drug users, including Ms. Kasabian. That was one of the major points of the trial: that the influence of the drugs caused these killers to commit their heinous crimes. However, Ms. Kasabian told the jury that NO drug could cause her to mimic the others' actions. Apparently, the Manson killers were not told why they were sent to that particular home, but rather than the race war that Bugliosi theorized about, my own personal opinion is that Manson was angry that Terry Melcher (and Candice Bergen), who had just moved out of the home, ignored his desires for a music career, and Manson thought Melcher still lived there. Years later, Susan Atkins would scream at one of her parole hearings, "Tate wasn't supposed to be there . . ." more than once. So basically these people were hideously murdered for NO reason at all; they just happened to be at the wrong home when these murders occurred. To this day, I still wonder how Roman Polanski, who was Sharon's husband, feels about all of this. I though this was a very well written book.

I have read many books and articles about Sharon Tate and some were good, some not so good. This book is solidly in the good category. This book is a collection of journals written by Patti Tate, Doris Tate and Lt. Col. Paul Tate. The book discusses much more than the events of August 8th and 9th, 1969. It touches on times and events before Sharon's death and after as experienced by the Tate family. Some of the writings just broke my heart and I cannot begin to fathom what the Tate family went through after Sharon's death. This book does not linger on the Manson family and their crimes, which I completely understand. Sharon was so much more than Roman Polanski's wife and a Manson family victim and I feel that this book brings Sharon a bit more to life. Jane Fonda said that she thought Sharon was a "pure soul", and indeed she was. I would have enjoyed hearing from Patti's sister, Debra, but she is not part of this book at all. I don't know exactly why she is not in it although I've read a few things about a falling out between Patti and Debra in the press. Regardless, this is an excellent book and contains a lot of things that I didn't know about Sharon and her family. If you are planning to read a lot about her murder and the Manson family, you will be disappointed. This book focuses on the Tate family so you should know that going in. I truly liked the book and I would recommend it to anyone who wanted to know more about Sharon and her family.

While most other books focus on the killers, it was nice to be able to get a glimpse into the lives of the victims and about how their families tried to cope with the loss of their loved ones. It would have been nice if Paul and Doris Tate had been able to publish their full manuscripts. But, this book does give us a sufficient idea as to how they were affected by the murders, and all of the ensuing rhetoric, innuendo, slander and gossip that followed. I think Doris Tate was an amazing lady, for all the efforts she made to help others, as was her daughter, Patti. An overall great read.

A great book and insight to how the family coped during this terrible time. Doris was amazing and did so much to keep Sharon's memory alive and keep them cowards locked up. As proud as she was of Sharon i know it was mutual for Sharon for her mum. I have loved Sharon from the moment i first saw her at the age of 10 after seeing her in the Fearless vampire killers. She in my opinion was the most attractive woman in the world and she was a fantastic actress. She was a gentle soul that would have done anything for anyone no matter what their background etc I hope wherever she is she's at peace with her baby mum and dad sister and friends. It was nice to hear finally the words and thoughts of the victims parents instead of the B******S that seem to put out book after book of what they did. I hope they rot..

I liked the take on this book. Steering clear of too much about Manson and his dopey little band of acolytes and sticking to Sharon's life and her family's business before and after the killings. I thought it odd there wasn't too much about Jay in the book as he'd clearly been a big part of her life and was even with her that night and died next to her. I'd have liked to know more about their relationship. Her sister Debra is rarely mentioned and that made me a bit uncomfortable but it seems, in articles I looked up, that she wasn't really on-board with this whole project. I'm not really sure why as I don't think she herself has always shied away from any publicity but it's a strange omission for me. I had to drop it 1* because TWICE people's names were misspelt and that for me is the biggest transgression an author can make. Plus it reeks of sloppy editing or proofreading. If I spotted it then people being paid to check this stuff ought to have done as well before we pay for it. Not good enough. Something else that totally baffled me was that in the Amazon synopsis they refer to Brie Tate as the daughter of Sharon's niece....I was getting extremely confused until I realised Amazon screwed that up and she is Sharon's niece !! This aside, I really enjoyed it and it was satisfying to read little of that poisonous dwarf himself. He's the only person I've ever watched interviewed with my jaw on the floor and I have thought "they're absolutely bonkers.....totally mad".....that's all that needs saying about him. I was concerned about Sharon's dog so looked her up online later only to learn both her and her predecessor died in accidents !! Poor little things....I got a kick out of the response Sharon's dad sent to the landlord of the home she was murdered in....good for him. There were a few missed-off question marks and apostrophe mistakes throughout which irritated me and words missed from sentences or in the wrong order, then we had the transgressions I mentioned earlier....writing Shin not Shinn then Randi not Randy.....painful. Greg King is also referred to when the Larry King show was being discussed so that's possibly another slapdash error !! It was nice that old photos were included. There's a lovely one of Sharon as a tiddly with her dad....such a great shame, the whole awful saga, though.

This is one book that was hard to put down! Anyone wanting to know the full story of Sharon's life, and learn of the people that murdered her and her friends, should get this book. It will answer a lot of questions. Anyone out there that are thinking that the remaining killers should get free, that they have changed, will think again after reading this book.

This book was written from the heart and reveals first hand the tragic tale of the victims of the Manson family, and more specifically the Tate family who had to cope with what is certain to be everyone's worst nightmare. The courage displayed by the Tate family and theyre heartfelt quest for justice and for the rights of victims is inspiring . Hard to put down, amazing!