Will I love A Lesson Before Dying?

I loved this beautifully written book for its depiction of how the death penalty worked in the Jim Crow South. I loved the compassion shown by the characters, both black and white, and the attempt by Gaines to reveal the complexity of crime and punishment in an era that may not be so different from our own. 

As a law clerk in the 1980s in the Deep South, I witnessed the legacy of the system that Gaines describes.

I love the heart-breaking power of this story about a falsely accused Black man on death row in the racist 1940s South. A college-educated teacher visits him in prison and gives him some dignity before his execution happens, and in so doing, gives meaning to himself and his community.

The unfairness of what went on in this country on a daily basis with our criminal justice system is shameful. But this book compels us to rise above it and create meaning and hope.

The conversations are real and raw, and I cried real tears at the end. This book made… show more.

This book should hold higher prominence in American literature than it does.

Ernest J Gaines taught at my hometown university and finished his life quietly in the countryside. However, this novel is anything but quiet. It takes on the racism of the South and shows what dignity in the face of such an atrocity looks like.

His ability to depict the nuanced relationships between different groups of people in South Louisiana is humbling. Many books have made me feel something; few have made me feel something so important for so long.