Beneath a Ruthless Sun by Gilbert King
"Exposes the sinister complexity of American racism... King tells this... story with grace and sensitivity, and his narrative never flags." --Jeffrey Toobin, New York Times Book ReviewFrom the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller Devil in the Grove comes the story of a small town with a big secret. In December 1957, the wife of a Florida citrus baron is raped in her home while her husband is away. She claims a "husky Negro" did it, and the sheriff, the infamous racist Willis McCall, does not hesitate to round up a herd of suspects. But within days, McCall turns his sights on Jesse Daniels, a gentle, mentally impaired white nineteen-year-old. Soon Jesse is railroaded up to the state hospital for the insane, and locked away without trial.
But crusading journalist Mabel Norris Reese cannot stop fretting over the case and its baffling outcome. Who was protecting whom, or what? She pursues the story for years, chasing down leads, hitting dead ends, winning unlikely allies. Bit by bit, the unspeakable truths behind a conspiracy that shocked a community into silence begin to surface.
Beneath a Ruthless Sun tells a powerful, page-turning story rooted in the fears that rippled through the South as integration began to take hold, sparking a surge of virulent racism that savaged the vulnerable, debased the powerful, and roils our own times still.
Gilbert King is the author of Woman, Child for Sale: The New Slave Trade in the Twenty-First Century, which was named one of the ten Outstanding Books of the Year by the Detroit Free Press. In addition, he has written for a variety of publications, including the Washington Post, Playboy, and the San Diego Union. He is based in New York City, and his website is www.williefrancis.com.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780399183423 |
| ISBN 10 | 0399183426 |
| Title | Beneath a Ruthless Sun |
| Author | Gilbert King |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Penguin Putnam Inc |
| Year published | 2019-04-23 |
| Number of pages | 432 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |