A Calamity of Souls

 A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci was released in 4/24, and I would have gotten to it sooner, but it was very popular on Libby. After a three-month wait, I’ll tell you the wait was worth it. The story takes place in 1968, just four years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act which was spearheaded by Lyndon Johnson. The location is in rural Virginia and the action surrounds the murder of a white couple and a wrongfully accused black man. The county where the murder occurred produced a jury was on of all white men, and one could have assumed that the innocent man would be found guilty.

The courtroom setting was one that was obviously grossly unfair to the accused man with a judge that had a history of belonging to the Ku Klux Klan although that fact had been kept secret for many years. The prosecution was being supported by a wealthy white man who was also funding the 1968 campaign for president by George Wallace. The defense team was of two radically and experientially different people, a white local attorney, Jack Lee, and a nationally-known black activist, Desiree DuBose. There were times when the characters spouted old tropes about the unfairness of the state of civil rights and the firm belief of whites who spoke for the status quo, but for the most part, this was an action-packed, well-structured plot.

 

At the current age of 74, I grew up in an era of racial discrimination that is so much worse than it is today. As a youth, I remember seeing “Whites Only” signs on public bathrooms and water fountains when I traveled through southern states. I toured South Africa while Nelson Mandela was still in prison and a mixed-race couple I was traveling with was strongly warned not to do any public displays of affection. During two high school summers, I worked as a teller in a bank where a black female teller befriended me long enough to help me see racially-biased acts to which I had been ignorant. Baldacci captured all of that in his novel. I give it a 5-star rating and recommend it highly to all. It’s the best Baldacci book that I’ve ready in many years.