REVIEW
The Laws of Our Fathers by Scott Turrow
Viking £15.99
The Laws Of Our Fathers opens with an apparently random killing resulting from a drive-by in one of the more dangerous parts of the city, an area under the control of Ordell Trent, streetname: Hardcore. It soon becomes apparent that although the victim, June Eddgar, is a stranger to the area, both her probation officer son, Nile, and her ex-husband, Senator Loyell Eddgar are in some way involved. The prosecution believe the shooting to be an attempt on the life of the Senator that has misfired. The setup is attributed to Nile and Hardcore. The case goes to trial.
The main characters are Judge Sonia Klonsky, news reporter Seth Weissman, and defence attorney Hobie Tuttle, all of whom knew each other in the 60’s. The action takes place through a sequence of flashbacks, interspersed with the current state of play in court.
In an attempt to explore how we have arrived at a point where we have gang-warfare on the streets and fear and loneliness in our hearts, Scott Turow examines the high hopes and revolutionary new world of the 60’s, and what went wrong.
The remit of The Laws of Our Fathers is immense. We are asked to consider issues of race: the Nazi atrocities, the injustices visited on black Americans; political issues of extremism, terrorism and corruption; and the consequences for perpetrators and victim, and the children of both.
The Laws of Our Fathers is a thought-provoking analysis of the issues that have moulded the lives of his protagonists. Although the basis of the book is the court room, most of the action appears off stage in the lives of the actors. It you’re looking for an action-packed, gasp-provoking court-room drama on the scale of Presumed Innocent, this is not it. The Laws of Our Fathers is the sort of book you need to take time over, to mull over the implications. This won’t be to the taste of all, and there’s a feeling that the format doesn’t lend itself particularly well to the subject matter. Perhaps a product of reading so much crime fiction is to be too eager for the shock or unexpected and/or satisfying ending, when of course in real life there isn’t one, nor is there an ending at all.... (EAL)