“This book will break your heart and lift it up again… a touching and beautiful example of the power of faith and forgiveness. Its message of hope should reverberate far beyond the halls of justice.”
A Story of Mistaken Identity
PICKING COTTON:
Our Memoir of Injustice & Redemption
Jennifer Thompson was raped at knifepoint by a man who broke into her apartment while she slept. Wearing only a blanket, she escaped and told police she was certain she could identify the man who had been inches from her face. Three days after the brutal rape Jennifer was led through a flawed photographic lineup which caused a mistaken eyewitness ID that put him behind bars. After serving eleven years in prison for a crime he never committed, Ronald was released when a DNA test proved his innocence.
Two years later, Jennifer and Ronald met face to face—and forged an unlikely friendship that changed both of their lives. In this true and inspiring story, Jennifer and Ronald offer an unprecedented first-person glimpse into what happens when the system fails both the victim and the accused. Paced like the most riveting of thrillers and packed with page-turning twists and turns, this unforgettable book challenges our ideas of memory and judgment while demonstrating the profound nature of human grace and the healing power of forgiveness.
This national bestseller is soon to be a major motion picture directed by Jessica Sanders.
An Unlikely Friendship
The Healing Power of Forgiveness
“Picking Cotton is a rare, pure story about power and powerlessness, and the fallibility of the human mind. Most of all, it’s a story of the transcendent possibilities of the human spirit.”