(Posted for Ann Roberts)
Another nonfiction book? What is happening to me? A Civil Action is Erin Brockovich without the cleavage…or the happily ever after. A Civil Action tells the story of an aspiring young Boston lawyer, Jan Schlichtmann, who took on Beatrice Foods and W. R. Grace Company for contaminating the water supply in Woburn, Massachusetts. An unusual number of leukemia cases in children and other cancers and illnesses in adults led to the legal action, which consumed Schlichtmann’s life and his firm’s finances for a number of years. It is a compelling story, offering up real insights into the machinations of the legal system and the lives of lawyers, but not a very happy one. In a case this cut and dried, we expect to see justice served up swiftly on a platter, but alas, it doesn’t happen. It is a page-turner that will keep you reading until the bitter end.
502 pages
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