Notes on an Execution

by Danya Kukafka

No one is all bad. No one is all good. We live as equals in the murky gray between.

It was the scariest thing about being a woman. It was hardwired, ageless, the part that knew you could have the good without the hurt, but it wouldn’t be nearly as exquisite.

Forgiveness is flimsy. Forgiveness is like a square of warm sun on the carpet. You’d like to curl up in it, feel its temporary comfort—but forgiveness will not change you. Forgiveness will not bring you back.

You don’t need to have it all. You only need to figure out how much is enough.

You wish for touch, in this moment, for the feeling of someone else’s hand in yours. Your whole body shudders, grasping for something more meaningful than tears.

“In Notes on an Execution, Danya Kukafka gives us something wrenchingly original, a rare and unsettling reading experience that challenges us to peel back what we believe about the criminal justice system, good and evil, and what human beings are capable of, both in darkness and in light. A moving tour de force of empathy and insight. I loved this book.” —Paula McLain, New York Times