A Lesson Before Dying

Gaines has created a powerful and loving portrait of a small, mainly cane-cutting community ... A transcendent and heartfelt novel of redemption Guardian

"'Ernest J. Gaines has created a powerful and loving portrait of a small, mainly cane-cutting community... A transcendent and heartfelt novel of redemption' - Guardian 'This is a fine and decent book that lives in the memory for its elegance and sadnesss... like the best country songs, straight and true, unafraid of sentiment and written for the people it depicts, not simply about them' - Independent 'A narrative of the deep pain of the south... Gaines writes from the blues and his novel has redemptive power' - Morning Star"