Ernest J. Gaines

"Ernest J. Gaines's new novella revolves around a courthouse shooting that leads a young reporter to uncover the long story of race and power in his small town and the relationship between the white sheriff and the black man who "whipped children" to keep order. After Brady Sims pulls out a gun in a courtroom and shoots his own son, who has just been convicted of robbery and murder, he asks only to be allowed two hours before he'll give himself up...

Presents the story of the long life of Miss Jane Pittman, who began her life as a slave in the South and who marched for her civil rights in the 20th century at the age of 110.

A shotgun kills a white man in a black man's yard. A suspect, a plantation owner, and a gathering of desperate men each "confess" to the killing. Even as a truckload of vengeful kinfolk arrive, they stand resolute against decades of injustice.