'A Prisoner of Birth' - A Racy and Enjoyable Drama

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Hari_P_R]Hari P R
'A Prisoner of Birth', one of the more recent novels of Sir Jeffrey Archer, is an engrossing drama, and would certainly figure among one of the great writer's best works. The novel is about an innocent man who is sent to prison for a murder he did not commit. Circumstantial evidence, unfortunately, points to the contrary, and he is declared guilty by a court of law.
Danny Cartwright is convicted of murdering his to-be-brother-in-law, while he was, in reality, murdered by four drunkards he stood up against for speaking foul words about his sister. The real murderers, however, use circumstantial evidence to their advantage and pin the murder on Cartwright, who is then sentenced to twenty-two years of jail.
Inside jail, Cartwright spends his first year in the hope that he would be able to appeal against his sentence successfully. He spends much of his first year trying to collect evidence that would help him appeal against his sentence successfully. He also makes a couple of new friends, one of whom, named Sir Nicholas, has a striking resemblance to him. At the end of the first year, however, Cartwright's appeal is turned down for want of new evidence, and this destroys his spirit and leaves him shattered.
In the midst of all this, a madman inside the prison murders Sir Nicholas, mistaking him for Cartwright. Because of their strikingly similar appearances, most jail authorities, too, believe that it is Cartwright who has been murdered. Cartwright, sensing an opportunity for his escape, does not let out the truth of his identity, for he knows that Sir Nicholas' release is due very shortly.
He continues to masquerade as Sir Nicholas, and is eventually released from prison. Cartwright, still believed to be Sir Nicholas, attends his own funeral, and is moved by the love and affection he sees displayed by the people who attend it.
He resolves to first resolve Sir Nicholas' family issues, and then start executing a plan he had made to avenge the four murderers of his friend and lover's brother. However, before he is able to make much progress on his plan, his true identity comes to light, and he gets arrested again.
His counsel, this time, is determined to make justice prevail, and adds to its team a very senior lawyer, who, in the course of interviewing one of the murderers, makes him say things that make even the possibility of Cartwright having committed the murder appear very remote. Cartwright is finally set free, and with the confession of one of the murderers, justice is finally meted out to the four murderers.
A racy and entertaining thriller with a solid plot, carefully constructed characters and Archer's unique style, this book is recommended for anyone who enjoys a good work of fiction.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?A-Prisoner-of-Birth---A-Racy-and-Enjoyable-Drama&id=6634711] 'A Prisoner of Birth' - A Racy and Enjoyable Drama