A Calamity of Souls

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses racism, racist violence, ableist discrimination, domestic violence, and sexual assault as depicted in the novel. The work itself uses outdated racist slang while obscuring the use of racist slurs; this guide includes such language in direct quotes only.

In Freeman County, Virginia, in 1968, an elderly white couple is dead in their home. The husband is sprawled across the floor, while his wife’s body lays across a chair.

Two white officers—Raymond Leroy and Gene Taliaferro —have a Black man in handcuffs on the floor, referred to as “the only suspect in the room” (1). Raymond struggles to read him his Miranda Rights off an index card, a new policy recently enacted in the police force. The idea of reading them annoys both Raymond and Gene, who are bothered by the idea of criminals getting representation, especially “those people, who had committed crimes, usually against white folks” (2).

Gene interrupts Raymond to hit the suspect with his club. He forces the suspect to lie down, then hits him again, then forces him to kneel again. Gene goads the suspect into getting angry by asking him about his wife and family. When the suspect reacts with rage, struggling against his handcuffs, Gene is excited that he can now