Miscarriage of Justice

Miscarriage of Justice is based on the actual events surrounding a 1913's love triangle gone horribly and irrevocably wrong. Kip Gayden has delivered an impressive novel that is as exciting as the crime and verdict were shocking. Anna and Walter Dotson were prominent members of the small Tennessee community of Gallatin. Walter, in addition to being a very successful physician, was active in numerous community activities, Masonic Lodge, church bible study and city orchestra leader, and he also had political aspirations. While Walter was attending various groups and meetings, his wife, Anna, was home with her two children. There's a pointed change in the marriage after Anna miscarries their third child, all the romance and intimacy the couple had once shared was drained from the relationship. As time and time again Walter rejects his wife's attempts to rekindle the romantic fires, she is left feeling lonely and unfulfilled. When Charlie Cobb and his family moved to town, he began working at the local barbershop and quickly became Walter Dotson's favorite barber. It isn't long before the flirtations between Charlie and Anna spiral into a full blown affair. They are both so consumed by the affair and finding ways to be together they fail to recognize the whispers, quiet nods and gossip, that eventually reach Walter. With her adulterous behavior exposed, Anna confessed her actions to her husband and then at his behest, to her brother. What follows is a crime that rocked the small Tennessee community to its core and a controversial verdict that would ultimately play a roll in the women's rights movement. Masterfully weaving fact with fiction, Kip Gayden has crafted a wonderful novel that brings the characters to life and gives the reader a front row seat in the private lives of people that lived almost a hundred years ago. Gayden has the ability to take the reader back in time and present a believable story, that is informative and entertaining. Threading the women's suffrage movement into the story at the onset puts the reader into the mindset of the era...painting a detailed picture of Anna Dotson's daily life and the importance of women's rights. A tragic, beautifully delivered historical novel that was a real pleasure to read. I look forward to reading Kip Gayden's next novel. Miscarriage of Justice: A Novel has a wonderful combination of everything, true crime, romance, deceit, adultery and historical fiction.

With tremendous attention to detail, Judge Gayden does an incredible job of transporting the reader back in time to the late 1800s when young Christian camp counselor, Walter Dotson, first meets young Miss Anna Dennis, a pastor's daughter, and the two set upon a course that will later shape history. While the book is basically historical fiction, it is based on actual events, and Judge Gayden artfully weaves a tale based on newspaper clippings (included in the book), and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find that his rendition was exactly how events transpired. He does such an excellent job developing his characters that their actions come as no surprise, and we love and loathe them as he'd planned. The main characters are Anna (Dennis) Dotson and her husband, Dr. Walter Dotson, both pillars of their community. They had been madly in love and wildly happy until Anna has a miscarriage, causing Walter's attentions to wane. The book is an excellent study on the human condition and how a family that appears on the surface to have everything can be hiding all sorts of secrets. There were many times during the story, however, that Dr. Dotson had it within his power to change the course of events had he only been a bit less self-centered and actually taken the time to listen to his wife. Judge Gayden does an excellent job of garnering the reader's sympathies for Anna and also making the reader feel as if her husband owes her. He also does a wonderful job of painting Charlie Cobb as a contemptible cad who isn't about to let Anna go once getting his clutches on her. Shades of a Victorian Basic Instinct, if you will. Even more exciting than the human aspects of the story, is the legal wrangling that takes place. The reader gets a front-row seat and even a peek inside the minds of some of those present during the trial. And while there is no indication that Anna Dotson herself played a role in the suffrage movement, her trial and the resulting verdict has EVERYTHING to do with it. I commend Judge Gayden for bringing the subject of legal inequality to light - especially at a time when our society is grappling with such things as same-sex marriage. Right now it is hard to believe that there was ever a time in our country's history when women didn't have the right to vote and that interracial marriage was illegal, but both of these used to be the case. Perhaps it's time for society to move on to correct another injustice. Carol Ann Hopkins 3/5/2008

Miscarriage of Justice is a fictional tale based on a true story. It is the early days of the women's suffrage movement. Walter Dotson was a counselor at a Christian Camp when he met Anna Dennis, his future wife. He was attracted to her from the moment he saw her. After two children and a miscarriage, Anna noticed that Walter no longer seemed to desire her. There was a new man in town, and he was willing to show her the attention she craved. Charlie Cobb slowly, relentlessly seduced Anna. Soon the town gossips were speculating over the relationship of Charlie and Anna. Things quickly escalated... Miscarriage of Justice is one of those book you just cannot lay down. The plot is a stunning success. Long after I finished reading this book, I contemplated the dynamics of the characters and their relationships. Anna was strong willed; Walter knew that going into the marriage. He deemed it an asset at that time. Later, that same attribute seemed to hinder his love for her. I liked Anna; she was a multidimensional personality. Walter was pompous and over proud of his role in society. He placed everything above his wife. It amazed me how he turned to her after the murder. Charlie...what can you say about Charlie? The man was a cad. He was slimy. I can think of several other adjectives, but they just get worse. He had a wife and child, and yet he set out to seduce Anna. I suppose she was another notch in his belt. Miscarriage of Justice by Kip Gayden is a brilliant novel. It transports the reader back to a time when women were property of their husbands with no rights. Gayden successfully recreates history by painting a picture of words. Fans of history, suspense, and romance will not want to miss Miscarriage of Justice. Run! Do not walk to the closest bookstore and buy Miscarriage of Justice.

Reviewed by Carol Hoyer for Reader Views (2/08) When you are one of the most upstanding families in the community what happens when you fall from Grace? Anna Dotson was soon to find out. A mother of two, a doctor for a husband and part of the community's popular social circle had made one of the biggest mistakes of her life and it might cause her to lose her life. Charlie Cobb was the new barber in town and he had a way with the women and he knew it. He had set his sights on Anna Dotson and, true to form, she became his until her husband and the whole town found out about them. Dr. Dotson went crazy and threatened to kill Charlie Cobb if he didn't leave town and leave his wife alone. But Dr. Dotson didn't kill the womanizing barber. Anna Dotson said, "She killed this thing, but didn't murder him." Did she know what she was doing? What would she resort to in order to protect her husband and children? "Miscarriage of Justice" is Kip Gayden's first novel and this reader firmly believes he has a great gift of drawing one into his story by his style of writing and his ability to put you in Anna Dotson's body.

Miscarriage of Justice by Kip Gayden is the story of Anna And Walter Dotson in 1913 Tennessee. Walter is a successful physician, Bible study leader, alderman for the city of Gallatin, Mason, and leader of the city orchestra. Anna is the lovely mother of their two children who keeps her days busy with the social functions required of the wife of a pillar of the community. She also spends time flirting with the cause of woman's suffrage and the new barber in town: Charlie Cobb. Gayden weaves together historical fact with logical conjecture to create a fantastic story of how a crime in a small town in Tennessee helped shape the future of the nation. Anna's flirtation with Charlie leaps into full blown adultery, with both spouses left in the dark. Gayden describes the attraction of forbidden liasons with flair and emotion. He makes Anna's descent into lust as believable as her guilt over the double life she finds herself living. Gayden uses reporter Paul Christian as the reader's objective eye in the story, and as we hear the story filtered through him, it becomes not only believable but enthralling. The crime is shocking; the verdict even more so. Gayden introduced suffrage as a major story element in the opening chapters, but that line drops off until suddenly popping up in the jury room when the ties between the crime and suffrage become clear, and with a masterful stroke Gayden makes his case that this long forgotten crime of passion helped give women the right to vote in America. By fictionalizing the portions of the book, Gayden brings Anna and the rest of the cast to life, and you can't help but ache for her. My one and only complaint is a small one: I would have liked pictures of the principals to be included in the book. I hope that Gayden takes my advice for his next book, which I look forward to reading!