This book has been well read, well reviewed, and on every list for a reason – it is very very good. It is a beautifully written, horrifyingly tragic story that speaks as much about America as it does about the marriage at the novel’s core. It is stunning and it is sad.
The short version is, a young couple, only married a year, are visiting his parents in small town Louisiana when the husband is arrested, tried, and convicted of a crime he absolutely did not do. He is black and his accuser is white and it takes little more than that to put him away with a twelve-year sentence. That is the beginning. This book is about how events unfold when that conviction is rightfully overturned and he is released having lost five years in prison.
There is a much longer version about what this book is about. This book is about very flawed, very real people doing the best they can in unfair and awful circumstances. This book is about them failing more than they succeed and trying to at least learn from their failures. This book is about a broken prison system that also breaks people and how black men and women in America neither see nor receive justice.
It’s an incredible book. I found myself toughing through it at times, it clearly isn’t the easiest to read, but I am very glad I finished it. It’s a book I would love to talk about when I can find someone in my life who has also read it. So good luck, me.