The Sun Does Shine

Absolutely amazing book. How Anthony kept his hope alive is inspiring. A beautiful book full of hope, love and faith. It made me cry in places.

Everyone should read this book.

Review
Thank you to @netgalley Anthony Ray Hinton and Penguin Random House for the arc of The Sun Does Shine.
This is is quite simply incredible, the ultimate story of survival and unconditional love. Ray spent 28 years on death row for a crime he did not commit, robbery and murder. I will be buying several copies of this book as a gift for friends.
Side note, if you loved this book the follow it with Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson, equally incredible. These are two books I will read again and will never forget.

Inspiring, touching and powerful. Full of hop and a real insight into life on death row. Everyone must read it.

Thank you for the opportunity to read 'The Sun Does Shine' but Anthony Ray Hinton. I had recently read an article about Mr Hinton and was very pleased to be able to read his book.

I am amazed at his resilience, determination and compassion and have no idea how a man can emerge from being falsely imprisoned for 27 years and have such a desire to want to do good for the world. I also think we would all be lucky to have such a best friend as Lester and a supporter (and lawyer) like Bryan Stevenson.

“Every single one of us wants to matter. We want our lives and our stories and the choices we made or didn’t make to matter. Death row taught me that it all matters. How we live matters. Do we choose love or do we choose hate? Do we help or do we harms?” Anthony Ray Hinton – author and subject of this incredible book.

Right, I’m disposing of the heap of tissues gathered by the side of my chair, needed to wipe the tears from my face after reading this amazing story. The tears are from being moved and lifted up by the sadness and the joy all mixed together that are conveyed by both the story and the words of this man.. Born poor and black but into a loving family and community, Anthony was falsely convicted of crimes he did not commit, in one of the worst cases of racial prejudice in 1980s Alabama, and sentenced to death. His trial was the worst joke, with inadequate legal presentation, corrupt legal professionals, and bogus evidence and testimonies arranged by white, racially prejudiced officials. He spent nearly 30 years on death row before the US Supreme Court finally heard the truth, overturned his conviction and dropped all charges.

We hear the story of the accusations against him, his trial, the early years of poor legal representation and finally the intervention of lawyer Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative, who laboured for years so that justice be done in Anthony’s case and who became his close friend. The facts are utterly shocking, from the bigotry and corruption that got him accused in the first place, through the refusal of the perpetrators of this crime to ever admit their wrongdoing as exonerating facts came to light, to the epilogue that lists pages of names of people currently still facing the death penalty, of whom research has shown 1 in 10 are likely to be innocent.

However, against this dark backdrop we hear the story of Anthony’s mother who, he says, loved him unconditionally, and his best friend Lester who worked all night then drove 7 hours to the prison and back every week without fail for those near-30 years, to love and support him. We hear Anthony’s own story of struggling with anger and even hate in the first three years or so, refusing to speak, but finally realising how it poisoned his own heart and that he could not only help himself but his fellow death row inmates by nurturing hope and love. He did so in his words and in practical ways, such that the atmosphere on death row was transformed by this one man’s determination to live differently, as his Mama – and his God - had taught him.

This is not some namby pamby story of a man ‘finding God’ and suddenly everything being different. This is a hard story of struggle and triumph-most-of-the-time amidst a gritty reality. But out of this hard love – a choice not sentimentality – comes hope and transformation, such that one of Anthony’s best friends became Henry, a white man who had lynched a black man but who, Anthony, realised, had been raised from a young child to be racist by his Klan chief father, and who had been given no chance to know another way of being other than hatred.

I do not have the words to describe the beauty of this book, which speaks to us all and indeed challenges us all, I believe, to be the best that we can be. I think the last words must be Anthony’s own: “Remember none of us are the worst thing we have done, and right now, wherever you are, whoever you are, you can reach out to your fellow man or woman and bring your own light to the dark places.”

Amazing. This book shows how faith, friends and love can keep giving you hope through your darkest days. Anthony Ray Hinton continued to believe that God would set him free. His faith and his humility shine throughout this book. There is a lot of heartbreak but also a lot of love. This story needs to be told. People should not be wrongly convicted because of the colour of their skin and the lack of money in their pocket. Wrong convictions need to be overturned and the legal system needs to change.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, wow, wow. Heart-breaking and Heart-warming.

Reading this book will show you what determination really is.
Reading this book will show you what real friendship means.
Reading this book will show you what it means to have faith.
Reading this book will also show you what cold-hearted racism is.
Reading this book will also show the inadequacy of the elitist American (in)jusctice system.

There is no way you can read this book and still be in favour of the death penalty.

100% recommended reading

A harrowing, challenging read about Ray Hinton's wrongful conviction and imprisonment on Death Row. His strength of character and the positivity he maintained for 30 years is remarkable.

This is an absolute triumph of a book. It'll make you cry but also laugh and has hope laced throughout the pages. A must read.

Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and falsely imprisoned for murder. He was sentenced to death and spent 27 years on death row.

We learn how Ray coped (could anyone really imagine what it would be like?) through the dark days and nights. When hope had gone and in despair Ray turned to god. He also had the support of his mum who always believed he was innocent along with best friend, Lester who travelled every week to visit him.

Throughout the book there are smiles, sad time, lightness, despair and hope. Eventually, Ray hires a lawyer who believes in him. Mr Bryan Stevenson helps him become a free man. An amazing read which I highly recommend (you'll need a box of tissues handy).

This is an absolutely INCREDIBLE book. Everyone should read it, whether you are for, against, or indifferent to the death penalty. Anthony Ray Hinton tells his story of his life before, during, and after 30 years on death row as an innocent man. I honestly wish I had one tenth of the strength this man has. It moved me beyond words and I urge everyone to read it.