BookPeople Presents: Lawrence Wright - Redemption

Format:

• This event is ticketed
• Location: The 2nd floor of BookPeople.
• Run time: 45-60 minute discussion, followed by a signing line.
• Check-in time: 6:15 P.M. Please have a copy of your ticket available (either printed out or on your phone) for check in.
• Outside queuing may be required. Please check the weather forecast ahead of time and plan accordingly.

Signing/Event Guidelines:

• In order to get a book signed, you must have purchased a ticket (which includes a copy of the book).
• The author will be personalizing copies of the book.
• For high volume events, post-talk signing lines can become very long. Signing line placement is determined on a first-come, first-served basis.
• If you buy a ticket and are unable to attend, we will hold your book at BookPeople for 30 days after the event. We cannot guarantee that your book will be signed; priority is given to event attendees and any extra stock is dependent on the author’s availability.

General Info:

• Eventbrite is the only authorized ticket system. Tickets purchased through other sites/vendors cannot be honored.
• Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis and is not guaranteed.
• If you have any accessibility concerns, please contact online@bookpeople.com

• If you have any other questions, please visit our Eventbrite FAQ. If your question isn't covered in the FAQ, feel free to email us at online@bookpeople.com.
• BookPeople reserves the right to cancel or postpone this event if necessary.
• There will not be a live stream or recording available.
• All event guidelines are subject to change.

About the book:

A powerful and startling account of the unique connection between a convent of cloistered nuns and the condemned women on Texas’s death row, exploring questions around crime and punishment, faith, and retribution in America as only Lawrence Wright can

"This unlikely story of a group of nuns in rural Texas ministering to seven women on death row is both captivating and inspiring. Two disparate groups—contemplative nuns and condemned inmates—set aside their pasts, slowly learn to trust one another, and ultimately bond as friends." —John Grisham

In the fall of 2014, Deacon Ronnie Lastovica visited a women’s prison in Gatesville, Texas and gave communion to the women on death row. Moved by the meeting, the Deacon vowed to return weekly, but he knew he couldn’t help these women alone. He called upon the Sisters of Mary Morning Star, a group of contemplative nuns in Waco, Texas, to visit the seven condemned women with him. What followed is an incredible story of a spiritual alliance between two groups of women who, though they couldn't seem more different, are living uniquely similar lives.

In these pages, Lawrence Wright takes us into the death row unit, laying bare these women’s daily lives, histories, and their horrific crimes. Some of the women in prison wrestle with guilt over the suffering they've caused, others fiercely maintain their innocence. As Wright learns more about their cases, the unethical police practices and improper forensic methods cast doubt on whether some of these women actually committed the crimes for which they’ll pay the ultimate price.

About the author:

LAWRENCE WRIGHT is a staff writer for The New Yorker, a playwright, a screenwriter, and the author of eleven books of nonfiction, including The Looming Tower, Going Clear, and God Save Texas, and four previous novels, The Human Scale, Mr. Texas, The End of October, and God's Favorite. He has received many honors, including a Pulitzer Prize for The Looming Tower. He and his wife are longtime residents of Austin, Texas.

About the moderator:

PAMELA COLLOFF is a reporter at ProPublica and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine. She was the recipient of a National Magazine Award for Reporting in 2020 and for Feature Writing in 2013. Her work has been anthologized in Best American Magazine Writing, Best American Crime Reporting, and Next Wave: America’s New Generation of Great Literary Journalists. Colloff holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Brown University. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and their two children.

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Thank you for supporting Lawrence Wright, Pamela Colloff, and your local independent bookstore!