Das Gesetz der Väter

The plot follows the trial of Nile Edgar, accused of ordering the murder of his mother, June, a former activist and former wife of a state senator. June was killed in a drive-by shooting in a ghetto neighborhood, and the alleged target was his father.

The trial is presided over by Judge Sonia “Sonny” Klonsky, who knew all the actors from her college days in the 1960s. A parallel story unfolds from the past: radical students, protests against the Vietnam War, betrayals and mistakes that return decades later. Among the characters are former lovers, lawyers and journalists who were once rebels and are now part of the system.

Turow weaves the courtroom drama with themes of family, inheritance, political idealism and the price children pay for their parents’ mistakes. The novel explores how “father laws” shape new generations.