Without Prejudice is a story told in two halves; Flashbacks to the story of two children, one black and one white, who are thrown together in 1960s Chicago and a present day dilemma; Should I let this man into my privileged life?
Late one night, Robert Danziger receives an unexpected call from a childhood friend, Duval Morgan. Duval has spent more than twenty years in an Illinois state penitentiary for the horrific rape and assault of a young nurse. Now he is finally out.
The protagonist – Robert, is a rather bland character, he comes across as petty and randomly racist. I don’t believe that the author would have intended him to be perceived in that way. His wife seems wholly ideological and their relationship is not believable or as compelling as it needs to be for this story to work.
The story is a very slow burn, the flashbacks add insight but it takes 90% of the book to get to a point where the reader feels they have caught up to the action and then when all the strands of the plot are drawn together the pace is so rushed it feels like the author was editing to acknowledge a word count.
I believe the thought provoking premise and the flashbacks were worth reading the entire book for, just, but I would only ever recommend this for someone who can live with cliche characterizations and predictable plot lines. I was thoroughly disappointed.