Non-fiction set in Alex City – Furious Hours by Casey Cep
Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
This is the story by the pen of the famous author Harper Lee, the story she researched and was going to write, but never did. This was something which caught her interest coming years after her famous book “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Alex City is a small textile- based town beside the Tallapoosa River, and the events of this novel take place towards the end of the 1970s. This case caught Harper Lee’s eye as it contained elements of religion, serial murder, the occult and courtroom drama. She travelled to Alex City numerous times for research, much in the same way as she had with Kansas in the early 1960s, when she helped her childhood friend Truman Capote research his own book, “In Cold Blood.”
BookTrail Travel to the locations in Furious Hours
BookTrail Travel to the locations in Furious Hours
#Bookreview
As soon as I heard that this was a case which had inspired Harper Lee, then it was a given I was going to read it. A fascinating account of a novelist examining a real life case with the aim of writing a novel.This is a non-fiction account of that research but with a fictional element to it which really brings it to life.
The case of the preacher, was going to end up in a book called The Reverend. Readers were eager to read something else from Harper Lee given the success of “To Kill a Mocking Bird.” She’d already helped Truman Capote to research “In Cold Blood” and now, this was her turn. We learn that she was keen to get it right and make it more factual than Truman’s book.
They say truth is stranger than fiction and I think that this case and this book proves the point. In the case of The Reverend, Willie Maxwell, a preacher is shot at a funeral. People suspect this latest funeral is for one of his victims. One in a long line of people he’s murdered for the insurance money. Now the girl’s uncle, Robert Lewis Brown, shots the man dead. This is the story of his trial…
Tom Radney is his lawyer. Tom was also the Lawyer for the dead man…
BookTrail Travel to the locations in Furious Hours
This ticks so many boxes as it’s about a real life case, a real life case of intrigue. Add Harper Lee into the mix and you have the makings of a fascinating story and trial. The book goes so much further than this as it builds a rich and complex picture of the growth of the American insurance industry,American politics, attitudes in the deep south and so much more. The belief in and use of Voodoo was a particular source of interest here and it was fascinating to see how these beliefs affected and coloured all others aspects of life. A trial in the deep south was very reminiscent of Harper Lee’s books but even she probably couldn’t have written such a strange yet compelling plot.
This is apparently a debut and if it is, it’s pretty darn spectacular. It’s rich in history and story, characters and setting, threads of fact and fiction weave to create a compelling picture.
And that added frisson when you realise that Harper Lee was there, documenting it all.
Highly recommended.
BookTrail Travel to the locations in Furious Hours
Postcard details: Access The BookTrail’s Map of Locations and travel guide here
More books set in Alabama here
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Furious Hours
Twitter: @cncep Web: /caseycep.com/
