Book summary

In Judge Sonia "Sonny" Klonsky's courtroom a black man is being tried for the murder of an elderly white woman, the wife of a state senator. It is a bench trial--there is no jury--the prosecution and defense present the case directly to the judge. However, the situation is complicated because the Senator, the defense attorney, the judge, and a covering reporter, are acquaintances from the 1960s, with private ties that may have no place in a controversial case. As the trial unfolds, Turow delves into the personal familial relationships of his primary players, creating a complex emotional novel coupled with a thrilling courtroom drama.

Media reviews

"...The novel is less a legal thriller than a meditative examination of the hold that time past exerts over time present, and the tangled relationship between fathers and sons, mothers and daughters....Mr. Turow has succeeded in giving Sonny Klonsky a vivid inner life--and in doing so, defies those critics who criticized his earlier novels for their lack of sympathetic women."