Name: Monica Riley

Job title: Head of collection development for the Jackson County Public Library

What’s the name of the book and author you are recommending?

“A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them” by Timothy Egan.

What made you want to pick up this book in the first place?

A friend had recommended it on social media. Later, I found out the author was going to be speaking in Indiana. I made plans to attend the author talk, and I wanted to have read or listened to the book before attending.

Once you got into the book, what made you want to keep reading it?

I wanted to continue to learn about the Klan’s history in Indiana and to find out what brought it down.

Once you finished the book, what did you like about it?

I learned so much about the history of the Klan in general and about its history here in Indiana.

What is the book about?

The book is mainly about D.C. Stephenson, an extremely powerful member of the Ku Klux Klan, and his time in Indiana in the 1920s. The author describes Stephenson’s rise to prominence and what he did as a Klan member, but he also describes Stephenson’s terrible acts that were unrelated to his Klan membership. One of these led to Stephenson being put on trial for the murder of the woman who is mentioned in the book’s subtitle.

Why would you recommend this book to others?

The history of the Klan and of its involvement in government was both fascinating and disturbing. People should be aware of this history, especially in today’s climate. True crime lovers may find Stephenson’s crimes and trial of interest, and Hoosiers may be particularly interested in this book because so much of it takes place in various cities around the state. (Seymour even makes a brief appearance in the epilogue.) If you enjoy this book, you may also enjoy “Gangbuster” by Alan Prendergast, which discusses the Klan and organized crime in Colorado in the same time period.