Anthony Ray Hinton, known as Ray, had gotten into a little trouble as a teen, but he was determined to get his life together and be a good man. By his twenties, in 1985, he was working steadily for a temp agency and living with his beloved mother, helping her take care of the house and yard. He was out mowing the grass one day when a police car drove up. In front of his mother, the police handcuffed him, arrested him, and drove him to the police station. He kept asking why they were arresting him, and finally, in the car, the detective told him they were arresting him for armed robbery and murder. Ray told them he was innocent and that he would never hurt anyone. He assumed this case of mistaken identity would be straightened out. But Ray was detained in prison, given a public defender, and convicted of two counts of capital murder. It didn't matter that security records showed he was at work at the time of the crime or that the bullets from his mother's gun, found in her house and not fired for decades, didn't match those from the murders. The judge sentenced Ray to death. Ray spent almost thirty years living on death row in a solitary cell, as one court after another upheld his verdict, and 54 of his fellow inmates were put to death. With the help of an incredible lawyer named Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy, the U.S. Supreme Court finally overturned Ray's conviction, and he walked out of the prison in 2015.
That's a brief outline of the bare facts of Ray's unbelievable case, but there is so much more to this moving memoir. Hearing the story first-person--and particularly on audio (though read by a professional narrator)--was absolutely compelling and so powerful. If you read about Ray's case in a crime novel or saw it on a TV series, you'd say, "That's not realistic; that could never happen," but the stunning series of problems, issues, blatant racism, and outright lies that led to Ray's conviction really did happen. I've read other nonfiction books about wrongful convictions, but this one is special. It's not just about Ray and his case but about what it's like to live on death row. Ray befriends the other inmates (even though they are each isolated in solitary cells) and reaches out to them with compassion. He found purpose in connecting with others while on death row for a crime he didn't commit. It's heartbreaking and poignant but also very inspiring. This powerful memoir should be required reading for every U.S. citizen. I'm so glad I read it.
(I see there is also a version for Young Readers, so this book should be in every classroom, too!)
368 pages, St. Martin's Griffin
Macmillan Audio
To hear directly from Ray, listen to this powerful interview with Kate Bowler, from her Everything Happens podcast (one of my favorites for inspiration). He not only talks about his remarkable story but also his commitment to forgiveness.
Kate also recently interviewed Bryan Stevenson, the lawyer who finally got Ray released and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.
This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:
Nonfiction Reader Challenge (category - linked to a podcast)
Diversity Reading Challenge
Literary Escapes Challenge - Alabama
Fall Into Reading Challenge - nonfiction
Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.
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Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the foreward by Bryan Stevenson, and/or download it from Audible.
You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!
Or you can order The Sun Does Shine from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.
Books like this are so important, moving, and infuriating all at once. Racism and classism play such huge roles in our "justice" system.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Helen. The racism is Ray's case was so blatant - the police and lawyers told him they didn't care if he was innocent because he was Black. It was horrifying. But his response to such unimaginable challenges is incredibly inspiring.
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