The Devil Amongst the Lawyers: A Ballad Novel (Ballad Novels)
Product Type: Book
Product Price: $24.99
Manufacturer: Thomas Dunne Books
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Description
In 1935, when Erma Morton, a beautiful young woman with a teaching degree, is charged with the murder of her father in a remote Virginia mountain community, the case becomes a cause célèbre for the national press.
Eager for a case to replace the Lindbergh trial in the public’s imagination, the journalists descend on the mountain county intent on infusing their stories with quaint local color: horse-drawn buggies, rundown shacks, children in threadbare clothes. They need tales of rural poverty to give their Depression-era readers people whom they can feel superior to. The untruth of these cultural stereotypes did not deter the big-city reporters, but a local journalist, Carl Jennings, fresh out of college and covering his first major story, reports what he sees: an ordinary town and a defendant who is probably guilty.
This journey to a distant time and place summons up ghosts from the reporters’ pasts: Henry Jernigan’s sojourn in Japan that ended in tragedy, Shade Baker’s hardscrabble childhood on the Iowa prairie, and Rose Hanelon’s brittle sophistication, a shield for her hopeless love affair. While they spin their manufactured tales of squalor, Carl tries to discover the truth in the Morton trial with the help of his young cousin Nora, who has the Sight. But who will believe a local cub reporter whose stories contradict the nation’s star journalists? For the reader, the novel resonates with the present: an economic depression, a deadly flu epidemic, a world contending with the rise of political fanatics, and a media culture determined to turn news stories into soap operas for the diversion of the masses.
A stunning return to the lands, ballads, and characters upon which she made her name, The Devil Amongst the Lawyers is a testament to Sharyn McCrumb’s lyrical and evocative writing.
Reviews
Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-08-31
Summary: "Good Sharyn McCrumb with glimpses of early life of Nora Bonesteel"
As always, Sharyn McCrumb's books provide intriguing tales. The historical facts are interwoven skillfully with her characters. The MP3 format is wonderful! No changing discs at crucial moments while driving.
Rating: 3 / 5
Date: 2010-08-29
Summary: "NOT MY CUP OF TEA"
C- More the story of the reporters sent to cover the 1935 trial than about the trial itself. A pretty young woman is being tried for the murder of her father in a remote little town in Virginia. The reporters from NY (a male and a female and a photographer) and a young cub reporter from a small local newspaper in Tennessee (Carl - he is a relation of Nora Bonesteel - from other Sharyn McCrumb's novels). Good character study and a fair story.
Rating: 2 / 5
Date: 2010-08-16
Summary: "Falls flat"
Like many others I was excited for a new book in the Ballad series. While it was an interesting premise, the reality was dull and disjointed. It was obvious from the beginning who the real murderer was and so there was no real drama in the outcome. Most of the characters were unlikeable, and there wasn't a prominent main character to connect with. The difference between the major newspapers and the small town one were anything but subtle - and I felt just hammered by David vs Goliath theme.
Just skip this one - don't even bother getting it from a library.
Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-08-05
Summary: "Not what you think it will be"
As always, Sharyn McCrumb spins a great tale. It's not what you think it's going to be at the start but an even better one with great characters.
Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-08-01
Summary: "For fans, it's a gift."
If you are a Sharyn McCrumb fan, this is a gift. If you're not....it's kind of a slow read.
Unlike her other 'ballad' novels, this is a historic novel set in the 1930's. McCrumb tries to create a period piece but aside from mentioning details about the heating system of a Ford coupe and the fur stoles worn by well-heeled city women, there's not too many details which make you feel as if you are in the 1930's. You never get that sense of time and place - or even the differences in cadences of speech, etc, from the novel.
The main story concerns a murder trial and the bunch of out of town reporters who come down to cover it for the national press. They are hot off of the Lindburgh baby kidnapping/murder scandal and are looking for the next best thing; they think that a young attractive murderess will sell some papers. Local boy Carl (who is just 18) is also starting his first job as a newspaper reporter and wants to write the truth. And so it goes. Add a visit from the reliable Norah Bonesteel, a charachter seen in many of McCrumb's novels, and there you have it.
One charachter, Henry, spends his time reminiscing about life in Japan in the 1920's, which is an interesting (if anachrnistic) subplot, but this takes too much time away from the main story - as if McCrumb couldn't find enough interesting in the main story to make it work.
However, despite these problems with the story - including the somewhat contrived way that Norah is introdouced into the plot - the plot flows well, if a little slowly. Since I'm a fan, I'm giving it four stars but if you're not.....maybe three is more appropriate.