A Father's Law - Richard Wright

Wrights daughter, Julia, explains that this novel, written shortly before her fathers death, explores many themes . . .

like guilt, the difficult relationship between the generations, [and] the difficulty of being a black police officer and father . . .

[and is] astonishingly modern for a novel written in 1960. n nAn intense, provocative, and vital crime story that excavates paradoxical dimensions of race, class, sexism, family bonds, and social obligation while seeking the deepest meaning of the law. -- Booklistn nOriginally published posthumously by his daughter and literary executor Julia Wright, A Father's Law is the novel Richard Wright, acclaimed author of Black Boy and Native Son, never completed.

Written during a six-week period prior to his death in Paris in 1960, it offers a fascinating glimpse into the writer's process as well as providing an important addition to Wright's body of work.n nIn rough form, Wright expands the style of a crime thriller to grapple with themes of race, class, and generational conflicts as newly appointed police chief Ruddy Turner begins to suspect his own son, Tommy, a student at the University of Chicago, of a series of murders in Brentwood Park. Under pressure to solve the killings and prove himself, Turner spirals into an obsession that forces him to confront his ambivalent relationship with a son he struggles to understand.n nPrescient, raw, and powerful, A Father's Law is the final gift from a literary giant.n