Forget Me Not

The epigraph for Willingham’s novel is from Susan Atkins, who was once part of the group led by mass murderer Charles Manson called “the family.” Atkins described her involvement as being “like I was a tool in the hands of the Devil” (front matter). Under Manson’s direction, “the family” was a commune that transformed into a cult and later into a violent outlaw gang. Like Willingham’s Mitchell Galloway, a young Charles Manson used psychological tactics to target vulnerable young people so that he could manipulate them into doing his bidding. Lily also uses these tactics when calling the group a “family” to which one needs to commit.

At its height, Manson’s group had approximately 100 members. Many of the female members were from restrictive middle-class backgrounds and were attracted to the alternative lifestyle Manson offered, similar to Marcia’s situation in the novel. Manson began attracting followers in northern California shortly after his release from prison in 1967, settling first in Berkeley, which is the same place Willingham begins Mitchell’s seduction of Katherine Ann Prichard. Manson and several of his followers, mostly women, then toured around in an old school bus until they settled back in the Los Angeles area where they engaged with the hippie scene, did drugs, and engaged in sexual relationships. Several followers were given new names by Manson, including Charles Watson, who was named “Tex” after the state he came from, much as Eric DiNello is called “Montana.”

From 1968 onward, Manson’s group resided at the isolated Spahn Ranch, and rarely left, a fact echoed in the remote Galloway Farm. Manson, like Mitchell, was the only voice heard and members acted upon his directives. Manson’s group often vandalized homes and dealt drugs for cash. Manson is believed to have had Gary Alan Hinman killed by his followers because he thought he had a sizable inheritance, something echoed in the treatment of Steven Montague by Mitchell and Lily. Most infamously, the Manson Family was responsible for the brutal murders of actress Sharon Tate and others staying at her house on August 9th, 1969. The next night, this same group and Manson killed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Messages in blood were scrawled at both scenes. Lily, too, always leaves a signature behind. While Lily’s crimes are less bloody if not less lethal, the cult-like behavior and belief in false “family” are echoed in Forget-Me-Not.