Author Spotlight: Stephen L. Carter

     Stephen L. Carter is a professor of law at Yale University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. His novels include The Emperor of Ocean Park and Back Channel,  and they would probably be classified as political thrillers, but they are full of historical research and insight. His nonfiction includes Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy, Integrity, and Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster. 

    I first discovered Carter when I was in my car and heard this interview on NPR ( https://www.npr.org/2018/10/10/656079710/stephen-carters-book-tells-how-his-grandmother-helped-convict-a-mob-boss ) about his book Invisible.  I  was immediately hooked. It was the story of his grandmother, Eunice Carter. I had never heard of her, and I bet few, if any, of you have.  But it's one of the most compelling stories ever. Eunice Carter was a black woman, the granddaughter of slaves, who became, who became the only female member of a twenty-member task force of government prosecutors tasked with bringing down the most powerful mob figure of the day, Lucky Luciano. She is an incredible figure, facing struggles against racism and sexism throughout her career, and her work was essential to toppling Luciano. She was a black Republican feminist in the 1930s and 1940s. A contemporary said of her, :If she were a man, she would be President." Her story, and life, were complicated even more by the fact that her brother was an active Communist Party member and organizer. It's one of the most interesting stories that I've read in a while.

    I then picked up Carter's The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln: alternate history, political thriller, historical fiction, courtroom drama, all wrapped in one novel. Imagine that Lincoln survived the assassination attempt, and, two years later, he is impeached by Congress. Today, many of us have forgotten that Lincoln was a very divisive President, even in the Union states. He was never universally popular; he faced vociferous opposition and criticism from many. He came close to losing re-election in 1864.  Carter's book is a great historical suspense novel.

    I just picked up Back Channel and Palace Council and added to my long To Be Read List.  Back Channel is set during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Palace Council,  set in 1952, is about a conspiracy to manipulate the Presidency. I'm looking forward to both.