In the summer of 1974, a heatwave sweeps through Boston. At the same time, Mary Pat Fennessy is struggling to cope with the debts that are suffocating her. She has lived her entire life in Southie, a neighborhood in South Boston with housing built by Welfare to aid the poorer social groups, now a stronghold of Irish-American working-class people who stubbornly cling to old traditions and take pride in the insularity of their neighborhood. One night, Mary Pat's teenage daughter, Jules, does not return home from her night out. On the same night, a black man is found dead in the subway under mysterious circumstances. The two incidents seem unrelated. However, in her desperate search for her daughter, Mary Pat asks questions that disturb Marty Butler, the local mafia boss, and his henchmen, who allow nothing to threaten their dirty dealings. With a plot unfolding in the heart of Boston during the turbulent months when the effort for racial inclusivity in schools leads to violent incidents, "The Given Day" is a gripping thriller, a depiction of the violence stemming from crime and power, and a daring portrait of the dark heart of American racism. It is a work that captivates and shocks, a work that only Dennis Lehane could write.