Goodreads asked Vivian Carpenter:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Vivian Carpenter My maiden name is Vivian Thomas and my grandfather's name was Clarence Thomas. Conversations with my deceased uncle, The Thomas Family historian, lead me to start researching my family history and the Supreme Court as an institution. But this is not a non-fiction book about sitting Justice Clarence Thomas. The Fifth Letter is a political thriller. It is a book about the first African American female appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Katherine Helena Ross.
It is fiction.
As I researched, this novel took on a life of its own and I just followed an incredible writer's path that caused me to put a spotlight on the most important question facing the nation today: Who is a person with inalienable rights in America?
This book is about us: We The People.

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