A Lesson Before Dying

A Lesson Before Dying is a compassionate and deeply moving novel, the story of a young black man sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit, and a teacher who tries to impart to him his learning and pride before the execution. In a small Cajun community in the late 1940s, a young black man named Jefferson is an unwitting party to a liquor store shootout in which three men are killed. The only survivor, he is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Grant Wlggins is the teacher at the plantation black school. As he struggles with his decision whether to stay or escape to another state, his aunt and Jefferson's godmother persuade him to visit Jefferson in his cell in an attempt to teach him to die like a man. The two men forge a bond as they both come to understand the simple heroism of resisting - and defying - the expected.