“Picking Cotton” is the July selection for my book club. We will be discussing the book the first weekend in August. I wanted to go ahead and post my thoughts about the book.
This is a true story of a young woman who was raped at knife-point while she slept in her own apartment. She is able to escape and then is able find the courage to identify the young man who attacked her. The story details her struggles to come to terms with this horrible act that was done to her and the trials that put the young man in prison.
This is also a story of young man wrongly accused of a rape who spends eleven years in prison. He does meets the person who really committed the rape in prison. The story details his efforts to prove his innocence. He is finally allowed to take a DNA test and he is then released from prison. During this time Ronald Cotton is able to find forgiveness for the man who actually committed the rape and for Jennifer Thompson the young woman who put him in prison.
The most amazing part of the story was how these two individuals finally met face to face and even through all the ordeals they went through they have been able to develop an unlikely friendship.
The book is divided into parts. The first part tells Jennifer’s side of the story and the second part tells Ronald Cotton’s story. Part three tells the story how Jennifer and Ronald become friends.
I liked this book very much. It encourages me and gives me hope to see forgiveness acted out, to see redemption and most of all a friendship happen when a great injustice has occurred.
Reflections 