Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

The Sun Does Shine

How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row (Oprah's Book Club Summer 2018 Selection)

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Oprah's Book Club Summer 2018 Selection
A powerful, revealing story of hope, love, justice, and the power of reading by a man who spent thirty years on death row for a crime he didn't commit.
"An amazing and heartwarming story, it restores our faith in the inherent goodness of humanity."
—Archbishop Desmond Tutu

In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. Stunned, confused, and only twenty–nine years old, Hinton knew that it was a case of mistaken identity and believed that the truth would prove his innocence and ultimately set him free.
But with no money and a different system of justice for a poor black man in the South, Hinton was sentenced to death by electrocution. He spent his first three years on Death Row at Holman State Prison in agonizing silence—full of despair and anger toward all those who had sent an innocent man to his death. But as Hinton realized and accepted his fate, he resolved not only to survive, but find a way to live on Death Row. For the next twenty–seven years he was a beacon—transforming not only his own spirit, but those of his fellow inmates, fifty–four of whom were executed mere feet from his cell. With the help of civil rights attorney and bestselling author of Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson, Hinton won his release in 2015.
With a foreword by Stevenson, The Sun Does Shine is an extraordinary testament to the power of hope sustained through the darkest times. Destined to be a classic memoir of wrongful imprisonment and freedom won, Hinton's memoir tells his dramatic thirty–year journey and shows how you can take away a man's freedom, but you can't take away his imagination, humor, or joy.
This program includes a forward written and read by Bryan Stevenson.
Praise for The Sun Does Shine audiobook:
"The incredible details of Hinton's trial and eventual release are narrated in an honest, easy style by Kevin R. Free...He captures the Southern rhythms of Hinton's speech with a natural cadence that brings us closer to his pain." — AudioFile Magazine
"Kevin R. Free performs this work with flashes of anger cast over a deep humility, and captures the sense of humor that Hinton was, incredibly, able to hold on to during his long years in solitary confinement...This is a story that enrages and inspires." — New York Times

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Anthony Ray Hinton's story is not for the faint of heart. Unjustly accused and then imprisoned for a murder he did not commit, he spent 30 years of his life on death row. His lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, reads his own foreword, which whets our appetite. The incredible details of Hinton's trial and eventual release are narrated in an honest, easy style by Kevin R. Free. Listeners may generally prefer an author to narrate his memoir, but Free gives us the sense we are hearing from a young Hinton. He captures the Southern rhythms of Hinton's speech with a natural cadence that brings us closer to his pain--when he calls out for Mama and prays for a miracle, we are right there in his cell. M.R. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from February 26, 2018
      In this intense memoir, Hinton recounts his three-decade nightmare: awaiting execution for crimes he didn’t commit. In 1985, Hinton, then 29, was charged with a series of violent robberies as well as the murders of two restaurant managers in Birmingham, Ala. Hinton passed a polygraph test and was in a locked warehouse during one robbery, but that didn’t prevent an all-white jury from finding him guilty after only two hours (the death penalty recommendation took another 45 minutes). Hinton here provides a convincing description of continued segregation and injustice in the deep South that cages the underclass as effectively as prison walls. His depictions of prison life are wrenching, as when he recalls the 1987 electric chair execution of Wayne Ritter and how the smell of Ritter’s burning flesh “burned my nose and stung my throat.” Forced to hone his mind to withstand overwhelming isolation, Hinton read voraciously and studied his case. With the unwavering support of his mother and his best friend, Hinton created a fulfilling life for himself, which included running a book club for death row inmates. After many years, his dogged pursuit of justice led civil rights attorney Bryan Stephenson to adopt his cause. Hinton was freed from prison in 2015, and now works as a motivational speaker. Hinton’s life is one of inspiration, which he wonderfully relays here in bitingly honest prose.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Loading