Rider to publish memoir of exonerated death row inmate

Rider is publishing the memoir of a former death row inmate, one of the longest-serving, falsely imprisoned individuals in American history, Anthony Ray Hinton.

Hinton was 29 years old when he was charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama in 1985 and sentenced to death by electrocution. He spent the next 28 years in a 5x7ft cell, watching as 54 fellow inmates walked past his door to be executed.

After fighting for his innocence for nearly 30 years, he was exonerated and released in 2015 with the help of civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson. 

In Hinton's "inspirational" memoir, The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row, he will talk about his experience, explaining how he managed to find hope in the darkest of circumstances. As well as "a testament to the resilience of the human spirit", the book is described by Rider as throwing a spotlight on the flaws in the criminal justice system in the US.

Rider Books' publishing director Judith Kendra bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein. St Martins will publish in the States.