The Right of Way — Volume 01
1901
The novel opens at the climax: a murder trial that has seized a town's attention. Charley Steele, a lawyer of formidable intellect but guarded reputation, has defended Joseph Nadeau, a man everyone believes guilty. In a stunning courtroom turn, Steele delivers a defense that secures an acquittal, defying expectations and reopening questions about guilt, innocence, and the nature of justice itself. What follows is not simply the celebration of a legal victory but an unsettling exploration of its consequences. Steele's past collides with his present when Kathleen, a woman from his history, witnesses his performance. Their shared history and the feelings it awakens add another layer to a man who has cultivated deliberate distance from the world. The novel examines what it means to defend the seemingly guilty, to wield brilliance in service of ambiguous moral terrain, and to confront the emotional wreckage one has left behind. Parker constructs a character study that rewards patient attention, a portrait of a man whose public triumph masks private turbulence, and whose victory raises as many questions as it answers.
