“Just like German fairy tales, German proverbs are often phrased as moral lessons, reminders of the values important in the culture. A German proverb often says more than a thick book or a long lecture. German proverbs have always been philosophical, catechism for everyday life,” according to author Lynn Hattery-Beyer. The book’s cover is German folk art, with reproductions of wood blocks by Albrecht (Albert) Durer inside.
Hiram and Rachel, a naïve young couple, married at sixteen and now with four kids, see their world ending as Hiram is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The way they handle the situation is uniquely their own. Yet their lives twist and turn as they are caught up in legal entanglements, enmeshed with polished lawyers engrossed in furthering their own careers and a sheriff torn between his official duty and his familial ties to the accused. The book is a work of fiction based on actual events of the middle 1800's, a time when small towns in newly formed states were athirst for broader recognition. One way to achieve that recognition was to have a legal public hanging. The executions were celebrated as huge social events as well as demonstrations of law and order and the triumph of good over evil. The setting is a quiet, little Indiana town which finally got its chance to have a legal hanging. The event was advertised far and wide. And hordes of people came to witness the execution. Hordes of people came twice to witness the hanging of one man a young man now known as Hiram the Hoss.