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Viola Davis is adding novelist to her impressive resume with the upcoming release of “Judge Stone,” a courtroom thriller she co-wrote with perennial bestseller James Patterson. The book — set to hit shelves on March 9 — marks Davis’s first full foray into adult fiction.
Published by Little, Brown and Company, “Judge Stone” centers on Judge Mary Stone, a respected circuit judge in the tiny Alabama town of Union Springs who must navigate a deeply divisive, ethically fraught courtroom battle. When a doctor is charged under draconian abortion laws after performing a procedure on a 13-year-old girl, Stone must balance her devotion to justice, her community and her own reelection prospects.
For Davis, this literary debut is a bold new chapter. In 2022, she released her memoir “Finding Me,” a deeply personal account of her rise from a tumultuous childhood to become one of the most celebrated actors of her generation; the audiobook narration earned her a Grammy Award in 2023. Following its release, Davis talked extensively about the thereaputic process of writing the memoir. “There’s an unspoken message that the only stories worth telling are the stories that end up in history books. This is not true,” she told Brené Brown during a press tour for the book. “Every story matters. My father’s story matters. We are all worthy of telling our stories and having them heard. We all need to be seen and honored in the same way that we all need to breathe.”
The Oscar-winning actor isn’t letting her new literary endeavors get in the way of her onscreen prowess. Last April, she led the Amazon Prime Video thriller “G20” as the President of the United States. Looking ahead, she’s attached to the star-studded adaptation of “Children of Blood and Bone,” set for a January 2027 release.
Pre-order Davis’s new book “Judge Stone” here.
