Worthy Brown's Daughter - Couverture souple

“Worthy Brown’s Daughteris a fast and absorbing read, and Margolin’s law expertise makes the book’s climax...an exciting moment indeed.” (Seattle Times)

“Margolin shines in recreating pioneer life .. . . there’s legal wrangling, murder and romance, set against the backdrop of race and frontier life. . . . his scene-setting, knowledge of the frontier and relating of the hard task of the law make for an appealing read.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“With plenty of action...the lively narrative will keep readers engrossed.” (Library Journal)

“Margolin captures both the haphazard legal theater―when judges ride the circuit, Portland’s ‘courthouse’ is a loft on the third floor of the Coleman Barrel Company―and the daunting racism of the times.” (Oregonian (Portland))

“Worthy Brown’s Daughter reads something like Deadwood meets Twelve Years a Slave. The finale in the courtroom is as brilliant and exciting as any great legal drama.... [A] beautifully written story rooted in America’s brutal history of slavery and racism.” (Iron Mountain News)

“[A] compelling tale of justice for sale... vibrant characters...bring the West to life.... If you like westerns or legal thrillers you will get both in Worthy Brown’s Daughter.” (Huffington Post)

“The Old West comes alive in heart-wrenching, violent, and wicked racist color.... Legal thriller and western fans will stay with it to the last page.... Margolin’s novel offers a compelling portrait of small town justice done right.” (Booklist)

“Margolin. . . [and] allows passions to sway his heroes, and generates empathy toward his crooks . . . . [On] the courtroom floor, where Margolin is clearly at home, [there is] a satisfying, white-knuckle climax.” (Publishers Weekly)

“This departure for best-selling thriller writer Margolin might appeal to fans of the acclaimed movie 12 Years a Slave.” (USA Today, “New & Noteworthy”)

“In New York Times bestselling author Phillip Margolin’s first historical, recently widowed attorney Matthew Penny has come to newly-settled Oregon to start fresh. He stumbles into the most challenging case of his career when a former slave, Worthy Brown, asks him to save his teenage daughter.” (Huffington Post, “Books I Want to Read Most in 2014” by Wendy Webb, author of The Vanishing)

Inspired by a true story, New York Times bestselling author Phillip Margolin turns his hand to historical fiction in this masterful saga about justice in the American West.

Like thousands of other Americans in the nineteenth century, Matthew Penny, a young lawyer, believes that he and his wife, Rachel, can forge a better future out West. But after she drowns on the Oregon Trail, Matthew arrives on the frontier with nothing but shattered dreams. Unable to face the memories that await back home, he joins the handful of lawyers practicing in Portland, Oregon—which in 1860 is just a riverfront town in a state less than a year old.

Worthy Brown, a slave from Georgia, journeys west with his master, Caleb Barbour, who promises to reward Worthy and his daughter, Roxanne, with their freedom if they help him establish a homestead in Oregon. When Barbour reneges on his pledge, Worthy’s hope for a fresh start with his child is destroyed.

In the hands of critically acclaimed thriller writer Phillip Margolin, the fates of these desperate men intertwine in a breathtaking narrative about the extent of evil and the high price of true justice. Matthew and Worthy decide to challenge Barbour in court, but events rapidly spiral out of their control and the stakes become higher than either of them could ever have imagined. And when Matthew, struggling to survive in the cutthroat, corrupt world of frontier law, crosses paths with Heather Gillette, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy Portland businessman, his grief-stricken existence is turned upside down, and suddenly he has everything to fight for.

Over two decades in the writing, Worthy Brown’s Daughter is a compelling white-knuckle drama about two broken men risking everything for what they believe in. Powerfully evocative of time and place, woven through with rich historical detail, it charts new territory for Margolin—but its epic, deeply human scope is still defined by the suspense and energy his fans have come to expect from his books.