In the same vein as best sellers such as Liza Mundy's
Code Girls and Margot Lee Shetterly's
Hidden Figures, this new work from Carter (
The Emperor of Ocean Park) presents the untold story of his grandmother Eunice Hunton Carter, the black female lawyer who prosecuted notorious mobster Lucky Luciano. The author begins with Eunice's childhood in Atlanta and later Brooklyn. Her mother served in World War I and was active with the YWCA and NAACP, and her father was secretary of the YMCA. After graduating from Smith College and marrying Lisle Carter, Eunice made her way toward a legal career, working under prosecutor Thomas Dewey and then-New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. Despite existing social and gender norms, Eunice's hard work turned into an opportunity to join Dewey's team dedicated to taking down Mafia figures.
VERDICT With artful storytelling and a narrative-like delivery, Carter tells Eunice's story in the best way possible, offering a compelling, unputdownable read with as much value in social history as legal appeal. Not to be missed. [See Prepub Alert, 4/23/18.]
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