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The Empty Cell
In the wake of the lynching in 1947 of a young Black man named Willie Earle by a mob of cab drivers in Greenville, South Carolina, four people on the periphery of Earle’s life find their lives upended. Lee Trammell, one of twenty-eight cabbies acquitted at trial, is tortured by the idea that not guilty is not the same as innocent, and escapes in the only way he knows how. Alma Stone, who loved Willie when he was a child, loses her religion and flees the South, only to discover that Harlem is not the Promised Land she sought. Lawton Chastain, a closeted gay prosecutor, realizes he must destroy his settled married life if he is ever to have a chance at happiness. Betsy Chastain, on the cusp of adulthood, embarks on a passionate interracial affair that teaches her the power and limits of love and sex.
Against the backdrop of the social and racial strictures of the fifties, each of these characters struggles to find his or her own version of freedom. Each experiences loss, sorrow, and growth as the South begins its long march toward racial equality. Deeply authentic, rich in psychological insight, and eloquently told, The Empty Cell will keep readers immersed in its pages from beginning to end.
Against the backdrop of the social and racial strictures of the fifties, each of these characters struggles to find his or her own version of freedom. Each experiences loss, sorrow, and growth as the South begins its long march toward racial equality. Deeply authentic, rich in psychological insight, and eloquently told, The Empty Cell will keep readers immersed in its pages from beginning to end.
408 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2020
14 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 30, 2020
The Empty Cell is a novel set in Greenville centred around the true story of the lynching of Willie Earle, Alden has then created a fictional world and characters based on that event.
The author writes from the perspective of several characters; Alma, Lydia, Lionel, Lee and Bessie. I felt that this was one of the best traits of the novel as it allowed the reader to get to know each character, their secrets, their internal and external thoughts and provide an overview of the differences the black, white and queer characters face within the story. I did feel however that several of the characters had more to give in particular Lionel and Alma, it sometimes felt like it would have read better as a story either solely around race, sexuality or alcoholism. Alden has introduced lots of significant issues but then it feels like they are barely touched on and just there to try and pad the novel out.
I struggled with the pace and text used, it was very slow at points and difficult to remain engaged with. There were a lot of awkward and cringe-worthy moments in the novel, I'm not sure if this was the authors intention but sometimes I found myself trying to skim read it because it felt so awkward.
I think the author is trying to something positive with The Empty Cell by engaging the reader in Willie Earle and Alma's lives and trying to give them an insight into the inequality at the time, I don't doubt that there are some people who will really enjoy the novel. I however have given it 3 stars as I found it hard-work to read.
The author writes from the perspective of several characters; Alma, Lydia, Lionel, Lee and Bessie. I felt that this was one of the best traits of the novel as it allowed the reader to get to know each character, their secrets, their internal and external thoughts and provide an overview of the differences the black, white and queer characters face within the story. I did feel however that several of the characters had more to give in particular Lionel and Alma, it sometimes felt like it would have read better as a story either solely around race, sexuality or alcoholism. Alden has introduced lots of significant issues but then it feels like they are barely touched on and just there to try and pad the novel out.
I struggled with the pace and text used, it was very slow at points and difficult to remain engaged with. There were a lot of awkward and cringe-worthy moments in the novel, I'm not sure if this was the authors intention but sometimes I found myself trying to skim read it because it felt so awkward.
I think the author is trying to something positive with The Empty Cell by engaging the reader in Willie Earle and Alma's lives and trying to give them an insight into the inequality at the time, I don't doubt that there are some people who will really enjoy the novel. I however have given it 3 stars as I found it hard-work to read.
August 8, 2025
I have to admit the first 100 pages i hated this book (hate you say?? Yes) but the further the book went i really got invested in these people and what was happening to them and the people they loved. People who just want the opportunity to be treated well like people. I loved betsy and alma
June 4, 2023
I read this for a book club. The author is going to visit the club, so I don't want to say anything too negative. But...I was disappointed in it. It begins with the lynching (beating, shooting) of Willie Earle - a true event that happened in Greenville, SC in 1947. Mr. Earle was taken from his jail cell in Pickens by a mob, mostly made up of cabbies, to Bramblett Road where he was beaten and then shot. Everyone in the mob confessed to law enforcement afterwards. All were tried, and all were found "not guilty." As one character points out, not guilty is not the same as innocent. From there we follow four characters and see the impact the trial and verdict had on their lives.
One of the characters, Lee, is more pitiful than anything. Drunk and caught up in the moment, he joins the mob that murders Earle.
Lawton Chasten, second chair for the prosecution, is so profoundly affected by the trial and the histrionics of the defense attorneys that he quits his job, leaves his family, and comes out of the closet. Yes, he's gay - something he's always known but hides. We have our token gay character.
Betsy Chasten, Lawton's daughter, is a senior in high school when the novel begins. She's spoiled and entitled, and I found it impossible to care about her. I just wanted to tell her to put on her big girl panties and behave.
Finally, there's Alma, the one character I did enjoy. She's the Chastain's maid, and has one child, Pretty. After the trial and the verdict, she moves North to make a better life for her daughter and herself, to get away from the Jim Crow South only to find that attitudes and practices in the North are about the same as in the South. Yes, she makes more money in the North but it costs a lot more to live there. Alden could have done more with this character, and I think the novel would have been better if she had.
The writing isn't bad, but I doubt that I'll read another book by this author - unless one is chosen for a book club.
One of the characters, Lee, is more pitiful than anything. Drunk and caught up in the moment, he joins the mob that murders Earle.
Lawton Chasten, second chair for the prosecution, is so profoundly affected by the trial and the histrionics of the defense attorneys that he quits his job, leaves his family, and comes out of the closet. Yes, he's gay - something he's always known but hides. We have our token gay character.
Betsy Chasten, Lawton's daughter, is a senior in high school when the novel begins. She's spoiled and entitled, and I found it impossible to care about her. I just wanted to tell her to put on her big girl panties and behave.
Finally, there's Alma, the one character I did enjoy. She's the Chastain's maid, and has one child, Pretty. After the trial and the verdict, she moves North to make a better life for her daughter and herself, to get away from the Jim Crow South only to find that attitudes and practices in the North are about the same as in the South. Yes, she makes more money in the North but it costs a lot more to live there. Alden could have done more with this character, and I think the novel would have been better if she had.
The writing isn't bad, but I doubt that I'll read another book by this author - unless one is chosen for a book club.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2020
*I received a free ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
While I appreciate that the author had good intentions in writing this novel, I am not sure that they came through in the writing. I read it relatively quickly, but did not particularly enjoy it. It was an easy read and the writing is very descriptive, but there are many moments of awkwardness.
Although I thought the character "Lee" was well-done, the excessive racial slurs from his chapters were uncomfortable to read. I also did not like any of the characters and found them to be rather weak, their journeys unsatisfying. I didn’t find either the black woman or the queer man to be written in a convincing manner. There was also quite a bit of writing that made me cringe , particularly in regards to describing someone’s skin color:
“some light-skinned, others dark as a slave just off the boat”,
or sex/desire:
“He smiled that smile, which she now realized was not only sweet, but sexy. One front tooth slightly overlapped the other. She felt a strange spasm between her legs”
Those are just two small examples, but are indicative of the writing throughout. It wasn’t enough to make me put the book down, but it was more than enough to cause an eye-roll or a groan each time.
As every chapter, or even every event/exchange in the novel is tied to race, it feels a bit forced, making it seem as if these characters never had thoughts independent of racism in the country. Overall, I just did not find it to be a rewarding read and questioned what the motive was behind writing the novel.
It is not a book I will be recommending.
While I appreciate that the author had good intentions in writing this novel, I am not sure that they came through in the writing. I read it relatively quickly, but did not particularly enjoy it. It was an easy read and the writing is very descriptive, but there are many moments of awkwardness.
Although I thought the character "Lee" was well-done, the excessive racial slurs from his chapters were uncomfortable to read. I also did not like any of the characters and found them to be rather weak, their journeys unsatisfying. I didn’t find either the black woman or the queer man to be written in a convincing manner. There was also quite a bit of writing that made me cringe , particularly in regards to describing someone’s skin color:
“some light-skinned, others dark as a slave just off the boat”,
or sex/desire:
“He smiled that smile, which she now realized was not only sweet, but sexy. One front tooth slightly overlapped the other. She felt a strange spasm between her legs”
Those are just two small examples, but are indicative of the writing throughout. It wasn’t enough to make me put the book down, but it was more than enough to cause an eye-roll or a groan each time.
As every chapter, or even every event/exchange in the novel is tied to race, it feels a bit forced, making it seem as if these characters never had thoughts independent of racism in the country. Overall, I just did not find it to be a rewarding read and questioned what the motive was behind writing the novel.
It is not a book I will be recommending.
October 14, 2020
I can’t remember when I’ve been more engaged in a book. I did grow up in Greenville, SC, but I would have loved it without that connection. The book begins with the lynching of a black man in Greenville by the name of Willie Earle in 1947, coincidentally, the year of my birth. Sadly, this was a true event, and I believe it was the last lynching that occurred in Greenville. Like the author, Paulette Alden, who also grew up in Greenville, I had never heard of Willie Earle or of his lynching. Paulette takes this story and, as she says in her Author’s Note, bases her novel on her imaginings of how this tragedy might have affected her characters. All of this you can get from the cover or the Author’s Note. Paulette wonders if she has been successful in her creation of these characters and her projections of how each character might have reacted. In my opinion, and based on my growing up in the South during this general time period, she has nailed it perfectly. I do, however, think it could have happened anywhere. The novel is beautifully written and touched my heart in a special way. I can’t imagine reading this book and not being affected. I hope it has given me a greater understanding of those around me with different experiences and circumstances of birth. The Empty Cell will stay with me and most readers. I highly recommend it, as well as The Answer to Your Question by Paulette which I read several years ago.
October 14, 2020
This book was free and sent to me as an ARC on NetGalley. However, all reviews are of my own opinions.
When I picked this up I didn’t realise it was a true story (my mistake). I struggled a lot with this book, the writing style was hard and I couldn’t gel well with the characters. When I read the description, I thought thy this book was going to concentrate a lot more on the case and the trial. I felt like that was short lived. I felt like the research done around law was quite poor. For example, B v B would be written like that but when expressing it out loud it would be B against B. Not B versus B. Little things like that really make me disconnect from the story.
I found it somewhat educational, hearing the story from different POC and how their lifestyle was back in the 1900’s. I quite liked Alma but I feel like her story had much more to give. It was bordering on romance. I feel like this book would have been much stronger had it only followed one of the story lines. It was difficult to get into the story with the writing style changing for characters.
However, now I have finished the book, I am aware it is based on a true-story, which may understand my difficulty with it - I don’t often get on well with historical books.
When I picked this up I didn’t realise it was a true story (my mistake). I struggled a lot with this book, the writing style was hard and I couldn’t gel well with the characters. When I read the description, I thought thy this book was going to concentrate a lot more on the case and the trial. I felt like that was short lived. I felt like the research done around law was quite poor. For example, B v B would be written like that but when expressing it out loud it would be B against B. Not B versus B. Little things like that really make me disconnect from the story.
I found it somewhat educational, hearing the story from different POC and how their lifestyle was back in the 1900’s. I quite liked Alma but I feel like her story had much more to give. It was bordering on romance. I feel like this book would have been much stronger had it only followed one of the story lines. It was difficult to get into the story with the writing style changing for characters.
However, now I have finished the book, I am aware it is based on a true-story, which may understand my difficulty with it - I don’t often get on well with historical books.
November 8, 2020
There are a lot of books out there currently that make us aware of the history of slavery, of the continuing racism, violence, and inequalities in our society. This fictional book goes beyond that to explore the rippling effects of a lynching (of Willie Earle) that actually took place in Greenville, SC through various characters. Other reviewers have described the plot, so I won't go into detail here.
The author uses the lynching was a catalyst that causes various characters to leave their prescribed roles to search for a way to achieve independence and fulfillment, with more or less success. Like the lynching victim, they each have their cells that confine them. I liked how the author gives these character a separate chapters so the reader can understand them individually, and how each of them was challenged and changed by the lynching.
The actual lynching was done by a group of cab drivers in revenge for the beating death of one of their group. We never learn why Willie Earle did this and what his motivation was. I feel that left out important information that would have added to the story. But otherwise, I felt this book really spoke to me having grown up in the Jim Crow south and coming of age during the civil rights and women's rights eras.
The author uses the lynching was a catalyst that causes various characters to leave their prescribed roles to search for a way to achieve independence and fulfillment, with more or less success. Like the lynching victim, they each have their cells that confine them. I liked how the author gives these character a separate chapters so the reader can understand them individually, and how each of them was challenged and changed by the lynching.
The actual lynching was done by a group of cab drivers in revenge for the beating death of one of their group. We never learn why Willie Earle did this and what his motivation was. I feel that left out important information that would have added to the story. But otherwise, I felt this book really spoke to me having grown up in the Jim Crow south and coming of age during the civil rights and women's rights eras.
October 25, 2020
I think The Empty Cell is a terrific book, and I heartily recommend it. Author Paulette Alden brings specific people in a particular time and place vividly to life while simultaneously, through their stories, dramatizing the poisonous effects of racial segregation throughout American society. A historical event -- the 1947 lynching of Willie Earle -- grounds the events in fact, but the fictional characters seem no less real, and their struggles through years after the lynching no less moving, than if they were historically identifiable individuals. The characters are complex and interesting. It's easy to care about them and root for them to overcome their troubles, to find fulfillment and happiness. The writing flows gracefully. The physical and social settings of life in South Carolina and New York City in the 1940s to 1960s are beautifully described in telling detail, so the reader easily looses him/herself, absorbed into those times and places. The Empty Cell is a book with a lot of heart. For me, reading it was a richly rewarding experience.
June 15, 2022
gripping! historical fiction + southern lit has been challenging my preconceived notions of race relations in the Jim Crow South and helping me redirect my attention from individual blame to systemic failures and how we're still addressing many of the same things today. there's always more nuance, isn't there? Alden definitely shows us some in this novel--which only invites us to keep examining ourselves to identify what prejudices we're still holding, just under the surface. & the character development is *chef's kiss*. & very neat that it's set right here in gville, sc!!
"You don't solve no problems by running away. Guess you found that out."
"Maybe this was what it felt like when the Holy Spirit moved through you. But it wasn't the Holy Spirit. It was the wind of change."
"... love wasn't bound by society's rules. Love was its own kingdom."
"You don't solve no problems by running away. Guess you found that out."
"Maybe this was what it felt like when the Holy Spirit moved through you. But it wasn't the Holy Spirit. It was the wind of change."
"... love wasn't bound by society's rules. Love was its own kingdom."
November 25, 2020
The Empty Cell is a remarkable story written in the historical fiction style that succeeds on many levels. This is a window into race relations in the late 50's early 60's where a mob lynching is a catalyst for questioning one's place in society by both sides of the fence. There are some hard lessons encountered on their journeys which at the time made this reader have to stop and reflect on certain issues.
This story could not have been written at a more opportune moment with the BLM movement news almost daily making headlines that have become liken to lancing a boil that has been festering.
There is an old Czech saying roughly translated. "Hope is the last thing to die'. For me, this sums up this story.
This is an independent review thanks to NetGalley.
This story could not have been written at a more opportune moment with the BLM movement news almost daily making headlines that have become liken to lancing a boil that has been festering.
There is an old Czech saying roughly translated. "Hope is the last thing to die'. For me, this sums up this story.
This is an independent review thanks to NetGalley.
February 6, 2021
This novel explores the centrifugal force of a single act of racially-charged violence across a myriad of human lives. The mesmerizing, textural writing pulls you swiftly into into its undulating current and holds you there—a branching river of varied individual lives forever changed by the gang murder of Willie Earle—and the shared, separate and circular trajectories of those lives over time. The characters, the locations, the emotions are real. They resonate deftly and lift from the page—one by one by one. The writing is intimate, compelling and moving. This novel is a powerful, cathartic journey and experience that held me and changed me.
Mesmerizing. Stirring. Unforgettable. It's been a long, long while since I've experienced a single novel this immersive, this transformative. Bravo.
Mesmerizing. Stirring. Unforgettable. It's been a long, long while since I've experienced a single novel this immersive, this transformative. Bravo.
February 15, 2021
A Heart Wrenching Trip to Greenville, 1947
If you have the courage to go back in time to Greenville, South Carolina, when Willie Earle was lynched, this is the book for you. Paulette Alden interweaves real people with fictional characters, and both sets of people seem real. Her evocation of the countryside is compelling, as well. In May, "the new corn was just a few inches high, bright green against the dark red soil." The fictional character, Alma, upon leaving Greenville for the North a few months later, observes the passing scene through a train window: "The verdant, late steamy-summer green of the south passed by, cornfields, kudzu-covered banks, lazy rivers like the one she's been baptized in.
If you have the courage to go back in time to Greenville, South Carolina, when Willie Earle was lynched, this is the book for you. Paulette Alden interweaves real people with fictional characters, and both sets of people seem real. Her evocation of the countryside is compelling, as well. In May, "the new corn was just a few inches high, bright green against the dark red soil." The fictional character, Alma, upon leaving Greenville for the North a few months later, observes the passing scene through a train window: "The verdant, late steamy-summer green of the south passed by, cornfields, kudzu-covered banks, lazy rivers like the one she's been baptized in.
April 23, 2021
This is the book I read this week: the week of the Derek Chauvin guilty verdicts. While the arc of history is bending toward justice, there are still far too many similarities between the racial violence and inequities of the past (the book takes place in the 1940’s-1960’s) and today. I’m eager to explore Alden’s blog about the book now that I’m finished.
August 22, 2022
The book is fiction but based on actual events. The text was cringeworthy at times, but I believe indicative of the times. I live in Greenville, SC, thus the reason I bought the book. The stories were told by the characters and how the lynching impacted their lives. The author states in the beginning that she wrote the book based on how the lynching may have impacted people. Engaging read.
January 28, 2021
Beautiful historical novel about a lynching in Greenville South Carolina in the 1940s. I couldn’t put it down. I re- learned so much about our sad history of racial injustice.. Not only that I fell in love with each of the characters and they still live with me after closing the last page of the book.
This is a really important novel and I recommend it to everybody.
This is a really important novel and I recommend it to everybody.
Want to read
August 26, 2021 I received an advanced digital copy of this book, courtesy of the author and publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
RTC
RTC
August 26, 2025
The pacing felt a bit slow at times. I was hoping that the book would focus more on the actual trial.
January 2, 2023
history made real
Compelling and illuminating. The south and a personal history of segregation, lynching and racism. Ms. Alden brings her considerable writing talent to the painful subject of the American South and it’s ties to racism.
Compelling and illuminating. The south and a personal history of segregation, lynching and racism. Ms. Alden brings her considerable writing talent to the painful subject of the American South and it’s ties to racism.
November 25, 2020
The Empty Cell is a remarkable story written in the historical fiction style that succeeds on many levels. This is a window into race relations in the late 50's early 60's where a mob lynching is a catalyst for questioning one's place in society by both sides of the fence. There are some hard lessons encountered on their journeys which at the time made this reader have to stop and reflect on certain issues.
This story could not have been written at a more opportune moment with the BLM movement news almost daily making headlines that have become liken to lancing a boil that has been festering.
There is an old Czech saying roughly translated. "Hope is the last thing to die'. For me, this sums up this story.
This is an independent review thanks to NetGalley.
This story could not have been written at a more opportune moment with the BLM movement news almost daily making headlines that have become liken to lancing a boil that has been festering.
There is an old Czech saying roughly translated. "Hope is the last thing to die'. For me, this sums up this story.
This is an independent review thanks to NetGalley.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews