Redemption with Lawrence Wright

A Cappella Books, Georgia Center for the Book and First Baptist Church of Decatur welcome Lawrence Wright in honor of his new book, Redemption: Faith, Justice, and Sisterhood on Death Row, a powerful and startling account of the unsparing connection between a convent of cloistered nuns and the condemned women on Texas’s death row, exploring questions around crime and punishment, faith, and retribution in America as only Lawrence Wright can.

This will be held in the Sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Decatur. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the venue. The event is free and open to the public.

About the Book

“This unlikely story of a group of nuns in rural Texas ministering to seven women on death row is both captivating and inspiring. Two disparate groups—contemplative nuns and condemned inmates—set aside their pasts, slowly learn to trust one another, and ultimately bond as friends.” —John Grisham

In the fall of 2014, Deacon Ronnie Lastovica visited a women’s prison in Gatesville, Texas and gave communion to the women on death row. Moved by the meeting, the Deacon vowed to return weekly, but he knew he couldn’t help these women alone. He called upon the Sisters of Mary Morning Star, a group of contemplative nuns in Waco, Texas, to visit the seven condemned women with him. What follows is an incredible story of a spiritual alliance between two groups of women who, though they couldn’t seem more different, are living uniquely similar lives.

Lawrence Wright takes us into the death row unit, laying bare their stories. Some of the women in prison wrestle with guilt over the suffering they’ve caused; others fiercely maintain their innocence. As Wright learns more about their cases, unethical police practices and improper forensic methods cast doubt on whether some of these women actually committed the crimes for which they’ll pay the ultimate price.

Clear-eyed and rousing, layered and morally complex, Redemption explores ideas of retribution, spirituality, and the question of absolution.

About the Author

Lawrence Wright is a staff writer for The New Yorker, a playwright, a screenwriter, and the author of ten books of nonfiction, including The Looming Tower, Going Clear, and God Save Texas, and four previous novels, The Human Scale, Mr. Texas, The End of October, and God’s Favorite. His books have received many honors, including a Pulitzer Prize for The Looming Tower. He and his wife are longtime residents of Austin, Texas.