A Lesson Before Dying

Author: Ernest J. Gaines

A Lesson Before Dying is set in a small Cajun community in the late 1940s. Jefferson, a young black man, is an unwitting party to a liquor store shoot out in which three men are killed; the only survivor, he is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Grant Wiggins, who left his hometown for the university, has returned to the plantation school to teach. As he struggles….Read More

8 Books Similar to A Lesson Before Dying

Searching for Caleb

Ranging from the ragtime era to small-town America in the seventies, Searching for Caleb is a moving quest for a family's deepest roots - and a haunting story of growing… Continue Reading Posted in: Domestic Fiction, Fiction, General, Literary Short Stories, Psychological Literary Fiction

The Book Of Ruth

Pegged as the loser in a small-town family that doesn't have much going for it in the first place, Ruth grows up (unlovely and unloved) in the shadow of her… Continue Reading Posted in: Fiction, Historical Literary Fiction, Illinois, Psychological Literary Fiction, United States

What Looks Like Crazy

Oprah Book Club® Selection, September 1998: What makes Pearl Cleage's novel so damned enjoyable? At first glance, after all, What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day seems pretty heavy… Continue Reading Posted in: African American Literary Fiction, African American Women, Fiction, Humorous Literary Fiction, Sisters

River, Cross My Heart

River, Cross My Heart is a debut novel by Breena Clarke. It was chosen in October 1999 as an Oprah Book Club selection: "This highly accomplished first novel resonates with… Continue Reading Posted in: Fiction, Social Life And Customs, Washington (D.C.) Georgetown

Ellen Foster

Kaye Gibbons' highly acclaimed first novel Continue Reading Posted in: American, Contemporary Literature & Fiction, North Carolina, Orphans, Women Authors

Breath, Eyes, Memory

When her mother leaves Haiti to find work in the US, Sophie is raised by her aunt. Their parting, years later, when her mother sends for her, is as wrenching… Continue Reading Posted in: English Fiction, New York (State) New York, United States

Leave a Reply