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We seem to be a culture obsessed with violence, trauma and family turmoil: we love to hear about the tragedies that befall others and the media appears more than happy to fuel this interest. It is rare to find a story about a dysfunctional family that ends in tragedy that is told in a balanced way. And this is sometimes the case with true crime authors as well; they fall into the trap of sensationalizing the stories they present. INTERNAL COMBUSTION, the latest work by Joyce Maynard --- perhaps best known for TO DIE FOR, a fictionalized version of the Pamela Smart story --- could be an exception. She attempts to be non-biased in her telling, but only arguably so because even she admits she was not entirely successful.
Maynard, like many others, was riveted when she saw television coverage of the trial of Nancy Seaman, accused of killing her husband of 32 years. It was hard to imagine the tiny fourth grade teacher committing such a brutal act on the father of her two sons. Seaman claimed self-defense and that she had been a battered woman throughout the marriage. Intrigued, Maynard flew to Detroit to see the end of the trial. But once there, Maynard started to lose the sympathy for Seaman that brought her to Michigan in the first place. Instead, Maynard came to believe that she was witnessing the results of one woman's psychological pathology, not the self-defense that Seaman claimed.
There is no doubt that the Seaman marriage was turbulent, quite troubled even. But as presented by Maynard, the verbal abuse and perhaps some physical abuse went both ways between Nancy and Bob Seaman. The real tragedy, as INTERNAL COMBUSTION points out, is that the two Seaman sons, Greg and Jeff, end up taking different sides and lose their relationship with each other as well as their father to the murder and their mother to prison. Those who knew the Seaman family were divided as well; some strongly supported Nancy to the very end, claiming she was a victim of decades of abuse, while others believed her to be a brutal killer and Bob to be her victim.
What is fascinating about Maynard's book is not just the story of the Seaman family, although that is truly compelling; it is Maynard's method in telling it. She is frank about her feelings toward the family and others, and she lets readers in on how she reached the conclusions she did. She didn't simply follow the trial but also interviewed and spent time with family members, friends, police, lawyers, reporters and experts in order to understand Seaman's motivation for killing her husband and how a marriage could go so horribly wrong. There were several key people who refused to speak with Maynard, namely Nancy Seaman and her son Greg. While the story is not really complete without their input, the absence of their voices adds tension to the drama.
But therein lies some of what readers may find problematic with the book. Besides the fact that Nancy and Greg Seaman, people whom Maynard is ultimately judging (or maybe asking readers to judge), do not get to tell their story, Maynard also didn't witness most of the trial herself and instead relies on transcripts and the accounts of others. Yet the book centers on the evidence presented in the trial. Maynard also admits many personal things about her own marriage and relationships with her children, which drew her to the case to begin with. So, like Capote, whom she credits as an inspiration, she begins to stray over the line between reporting and becoming personally involved or emotionally invested in her story. This may not turn off readers, but it does challenge the limitations and boundaries of traditional true crime writing.
Overall, despite some flaws, INTERNAL COMBUSTION is an engrossing tale of a troubled marriage, a dysfunctional family and a horrible act of violence. It is thoroughly readable and just scary enough for a good winter's fireside read.
--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman
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