Coffey on the Mile

The Green MileNew York TimesThe Green Mile

Cold Mountain Penitentiary has seen its share of men drawing their last breaths, with many of them claiming to be innocent until the very end. In this final chapter of the six-part novel, we learn both John Coffey’s fate and the terrible truth Paul Edgecombe discovers about him. The story also brings us farther into the present as Paul recounts the events of his life after Cold Mountain—and the lives of all he encountered there. The gentle giant with healing hands. The little mouse that softened a murderer’s heart. The corrupt man capable of more evil than any of those he guarded. And all the wonderful and horrible men and moments in that place of ultimate retribution, the well-worn stretch of linoleum they called the Green Mile.