Reading Recommendations: The Confession, a novel by John Grisham

For every innocent man sent to prison, there is a guilty one left on the outside. He doesn't understand how the police and prosecutors got the wrong man, and he certainly doesn't care. He just can't believe his good luck. Time passes and he realizes that the mistake will not be corrected; the authorities believe in their case and are determined to get a conviction. He may even watch the trial of the person wrongly accused of his crime. He is relieved when the verdict is guilty. He laughs when the police and prosecutors congratulate themselves. He is content to allow an innocent person to go to prison to serve hard time, even to be executed.

Travis Boyette is such a man. In 1998, in the small east Texas city of Slone, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donte' Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.

Now nine years have passed. Travis has just been paroled in Kansas for a different crime: Donte' is four days away from his execution. Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life he decides to do what's right and confess.

But, can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that they're about to execute an innocent man?

Return to Sender

At seventeen Rosalind "Lin" Townsend finds herself pregnant and alone. Her father, deeply religious yet cruel, throws her out of the house. Nick Pemberton her baby's father and the man she naively hoped might marry her, rejects her. Yet even at the lowest tide in her life, Lin vows to succeed on her own terms, and to give her son, Will the love and happiness she'd been denied.

Nineteen years later, Lin made good on her promises. She's the owner of a thriving diner in her Georgia hometown, and Will has grown into a fine intelligent young man who's about to start his freshman year at NYU, but when Lin visits New York with Will, she crosses paths with the one man she's sure she'll never see again. Nick Pemberton, now a millionaire CEO, the man who sent back all her letters unopened, marked "Return to Sender". Seeing him fills Lin with anger, and she resolves to right the wrong he did to Will.

Helped by Jason, a hired detective, and her best friend, Sally, Lin sets out to disrupt Nick's life and his finances with spectacular results. But the truth is more complex and surprising than she imagined. And soon Lin must choose between the revenge she thought would free her and the bright new future that's about to be delivered to her door. -- From the older bookshelves.

And one other book I'd like to mention: Pilgrims, Fiction Stories, Elizabeth Gilbert

The heroes of Pilgrims are everyday seekers (Harper's Bazaar) they may act blindly, but they act bravely, and they are unforgettable.

Elizabeth Gilbert is one of our young, modern writers.

See you at Rylander!