Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy

Alex Mar's book is a powerful and moving account of a teenage girl's crime and its aftermath, exploring themes of forgiveness and the value of human life.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 04 July 2024
Publisher: Bedford Square Publishers

Alex Mar's bold yet sensitive account of one of America's youngest death row inmates and the people whose lives she forever changed is intimately reported, deeply moving, and unforgettable. Robert Kolker, New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road, describes it as "an absorbing work of social history and a story about the mystery and miracle of forgiveness." Hilary Mantel, Booker Prize-winning author of the Wolf Hall trilogy, calls it "a masterful, revelatory work of literary non-fiction about a teenage girl's shocking crime and its extraordinary aftermath." On a spring afternoon in 1985 in Gary, Indiana, a fifteen-year-old black girl kills a white elderly Bible teacher in a violent home invasion. In a city with a history of racial tension, the press swoops in. When Paula is sentenced to death, no one decries the impending execution of a tenth grader. But the tide begins to shift when the victim's grandson, Bill, forgives the girl, against the wishes of his family, and campaigns to spare her life. This tragedy in a midwestern steel town soon reverberates across the United States and around the world, reaching as far away as the Vatican as newspapers cover the story on their front pages and millions sign petitions in support of Paula. As Paula waits on death row, her fate sparks a debate that not only animates legal circles but raises vital questions about the value of human life. This story asks us to consider the nature of justice and what radical acts of empathy we might be capable of.

Weight: 340g
Dimension: 198 x 128 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781915798992