Seventy Times Seven

A masterful, revelatory work of literary non-fiction about a teenage girl’s shocking crime — and its extraordinary aftermath.'An absorbing work of social history and a story about the mystery and miracle of forgiveness...it deserves to be read with attention.' Hilary Mantel, Booker Prize–winning author of the Wolf Hall trilogyOn 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.

'Addresses challenges of juvenile punishment with insight . . . A probing and moving book.', 'This is a harrowing and thought-provoking portrait of crime and punishment.', 'Seventy Times Seven is an absorbing work of social history and a story about the mystery and miracle of forgiveness...it deserves to be read with attention.', 'A story of crime, punishment and forgiveness, in a literary non-fiction work that reads like a thriller.'

Alex Mar is the author of Witches of America, which was a New York Times Notable Book of 2015. Her work has appeared in New York Magazine, Wired, The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal and the Guardian. She also directed the feature-length documentary American Mystic.