My thoughts
David Baldacci is an excellent author. His books pull you in and keep you until the very end. This one is no exception. It is a very emotional story. A time when things were not good in this country. When people thought it was ok to hate. Kind of like now. Back in 1968 there was a hope for change. Now in 2025 there are those that want to go back to the 60s.
A young black man who served his country in Vietnam is accused of killing his employees. A white couple. He drives them wherever they need to go and does other work for them around their home. When cops are called to the scene they accuse Jerome Washington of the murders. They abuse him and make threats against his wife. Together they have three small children.
This book takes you into the courtroom. All the prejudices you would expect from this timeframe are there. A white man is his lawyer but his co counsel is a black woman who fights for the rights of black people. Together they have their job cut out for them and it's not pretty. So much evidence against Jerome is brought out. But is it real or manufactured? Could Jerome have done such a heinous thing? Everything is brought to light. No stones left unturned. Even the judge is biased. The prosecutor may be crooked. Who can you trust?
During the time when George Wallace was running for president and there was so much racial divide in the US. The setting is perfect. The scenes couldn't be more clear. What is going on is horrific. There is a fire, a death, beatings and more. This book takes you inside the courtroom. You get the full experience of what it was like back then. It wasn't pretty. It's still not...
Thank you #NetGalley, #GrandCentralPublishing, for this ARC.
About
Set in the tumultuous year of 1968 in southern Virginia, a racially-charged murder case sets a duo of white and Black lawyers against a deeply unfair system as they work to defend their wrongfully-accused Black defendants in this courtroom drama from #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci.
Jack Lee is a white lawyer from Freeman County, Virginia, who has never done anything to push back against racism, until he decides to represent Jerome Washington, a Black man charged with brutally killing an elderly and wealthy white couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his legal skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are already stacked against both him and his client. And he quickly finds himself out of his depth when he realizes that what is at stake is far greater than the outcome of a murder trial.
Desiree DuBose is a Black lawyer from Chicago who has devoted her life to furthering the causes of justice and equality for everyone. She comes to Freeman County and enters a fractious and unwieldy partnership with Lee in a legal battle against the best prosecutor in the Commonwealth. Yet DuBose is also aware that powerful outside forces are at work to blunt the victories achieved by the Civil Rights era.
Lee and DuBose could not be more dissimilar. On their own, neither one can stop the prosecution’s deliberate march towards a guilty verdict and the electric chair. But together, the pair fight for what once seemed impossible: a chance for a fair trial and true justice.
Over a decade in the writing, A Calamity of Souls breathes richly imagined and detailed life into a bygone era, taking the reader through a world that will seem both foreign and familiar.
Jack Lee is a white lawyer from Freeman County, Virginia, who has never done anything to push back against racism, until he decides to represent Jerome Washington, a Black man charged with brutally killing an elderly and wealthy white couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his legal skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are already stacked against both him and his client. And he quickly finds himself out of his depth when he realizes that what is at stake is far greater than the outcome of a murder trial.
Desiree DuBose is a Black lawyer from Chicago who has devoted her life to furthering the causes of justice and equality for everyone. She comes to Freeman County and enters a fractious and unwieldy partnership with Lee in a legal battle against the best prosecutor in the Commonwealth. Yet DuBose is also aware that powerful outside forces are at work to blunt the victories achieved by the Civil Rights era.
Lee and DuBose could not be more dissimilar. On their own, neither one can stop the prosecution’s deliberate march towards a guilty verdict and the electric chair. But together, the pair fight for what once seemed impossible: a chance for a fair trial and true justice.
Over a decade in the writing, A Calamity of Souls breathes richly imagined and detailed life into a bygone era, taking the reader through a world that will seem both foreign and familiar.
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