Hi @Cathryn_Conroy, @Lana_Maskus, @Lynne_G, @NanK, @Gabi_J, @Carol_Ann_Robb, @Judi_Ross, @Donna_I, @Shirley_Fentz, and @Ruth_Hollandsworth!
You may have noticed our group is up to 11 readers. Yay! The more the merrier. Welcome to our new recruits, as well as to those of you who’ve borne with me through this process since the first of the year.
The group has selected A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines. Published in 1993, the book is set in 1940s Louisiana and explores themes of racism, injustice, and dignity through the story of a young Black man, Jefferson, wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death. A college-educated teacher, Grant Wiggins, is persuaded to visit Jefferson in prison to help him find a sense of self-worth before his execution, forming an unlikely bond and learning about heroism in the process. The novel won the National Book Critics Circle Award and is celebrated for its powerful depiction of life under Jim Crow laws.
I’ll leave this topic open for a few day for folks to comment or ask questions, then I’ll close it until the discussion opens on June 1.
Thanks everyone for being here!
