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Books Description:
John Grisham takes you back to where it all began . . .John Grisham's A Time to Kill is one of the most popular novels of our time. Now we return to that famous courthouse in Clanton as Jake Brigance once again finds himself embroiled in a fiercely controversial trial-a trial that will expose old racial tensions and force Ford County to confront its tortured history.
Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier.
The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly? And what does it all have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row?
In Sycamore Row, John Grisham returns to the setting and the compelling characters that first established him as America's favorite storyteller. Here, in his most assured and thrilling novel yet, is a powerful testament to the fact that Grisham remains the master of the legal thriller, nearly twenty-five years after the publication of A Time to Kill.
"John Grisham is about as good a storyteller as we've got in the United States these days." —The New York Times Book Review
"John Grisham is exceptionally good at what he does—indeed, right now in this country, nobody does it better." —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post
"Grisham is a marvelous storyteller who works readers the way a good trial lawyer works a jury." —Philadelphia Inquirer
"John Grisham owns the legal thriller." —The Denver Post
Customer Review:
Grisham is Back!!I have always loved John Grisham's books. I can remember when I was introduced to his writing when I read A Time To Kill. I read ALL of the time - I inhale books. I have been disappointed in the last few Grisham books. In fact, I was quite irritated to read his baseball ones. I felt he had abandoned his best writing : lawyer, courtrooms, small Southern towns. Well, I just finished Sycamore Row. Oh, my! It's a wonderful book. I loved how I could not guess how the ending would be. I will have to say Grisham is back 100%. This book will shoot to the number one spot on the best sellers list!
Oh yeah... it's that good!
The beginning of 'A Time to Kill' opens with one of the cruelest act that could ever be committed on a fellow human being. That scene will forever be seared in the minds of anyone who has read it.
The ending of 'Sycamore Row' will evoke that exact same emotion.
I digress but let me quickly throw this in since I'll get this question five thousand times a day until Christmas. "Is this book really a sequel to 'A Time to Kill'? It depends on what your definition of "sequel" is. If to you a sequel is a book that includes the same characters as the previous book, then yes. If to you a sequel is a book that continues on the same storyline as the previous book, then no. There are references to Carl Lee and "that verdict" but not enough (in my opinion) to call it a continuation of the storyline in 'A Time to Kill'.
I know that's splitting hairs and to be honest... it really doesn't matter.
'Sycamore Row' is a GRAND SLAM in the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, last game of the Series, off a pitcher that, up to that point, has thrown a perfect game. If you think I'm exaggerating I would love to chat with you after you've read this book. Seriously. I'm an unapologetic fan of Grisham and while I think he is a magnificent writer, I'm under no illusion that everything he writes is gold. (*Ahem*, 'The Last Juror', 'The Racketeer'). But there are the gold ones like 'The Broker', 'The Confession', 'A Time To Kill'...
And now 'Sycamore Row'.
This story centers around a colorful old man named of Seth Hubbard. Seth is old. Seth is dying. Seth is rich. Unfortunately the rich part is the one that draws the attention of everyone. Even if said rich is only speculative, and not yet proven. Seth is a shrewd yet successful business man with a plan that, on the surface, looks like he's lost his damn mind. He kills himself, leaves behind a new will that cuts out his children and bequeaths 90% of his estate to the Black maid.
A white man in the Deep South leaving the bulk of his rumored riches to his Black hired help... yeah, can't see why that would be a problem. Although the will is explicit in its direction and clear in its execution, you know it'll be challenged. Why? Because there hasn't yet been a law written that is above the scrutiny of the mighty and great wisdom of the all-knowing attorney. And so begins the circus.
We do have the pleasure of witnessing the antics of Harry Rex and beloved Lucien once again. These guys. I swear, there isn't enough alcohol in Ireland to sate those two. Despite their quest to become the reincarnation of 'Bartles & James', Ford County would be one hell of a boring place without them. And Jake would be lost.
Ah yes Jake. Life hasn't gone exactly as our brave lawyer hoped. Of course he did try a double murder case for only $900, so I'm not sure what he expected from good ole' Ford County. He's brought into this battle courtesy a mailed letter from Mr. Hubbard himself. Now contesting a will does seem dull and boring, and I'm sure in real life it is. But in the hands of John Grisham, following all this mess is pure joy.
Lettie Lang is the Black housekeeper who is the heir to this (potential) windfall. And because of such the leeches and distant family have all shown up to "help her through this rough and difficult time". Not only that, but she doesn't heed the advice of Jake and surrounds herself with one of the most jerk-off character I've had the pleasure of reading in a Grisham novel. I'll only say he's a lawyer from Memphis, TN and I was literally laughing out loud at this clown. Think of it like this... what if Al Sharpton had an entourage?
A good writer tells you about the interaction between characters. A great writer makes you feel the interaction between the characters. I wasn't sure if I liked Judge Atlee or not. At times I was cheering, other times I was found myself using words that I specifically invented for that lawyer clown from Memphis. I wanted to hug Dell and ask her if she's make me some shrimp-n-grits while bumping that ample derriere against me. My respect for Sheriff Ozzie grew and my distain for Seth's "family" only grew. And by "grew" I mean "like cancer".
The last time I felt such hatred and bile for a person(s) was Travis Boyette in 'The Confession'. And unless your father's name is Lucifer, you will too. Remember how I said a great writer will make you feel the interaction between the characters? With the loathing I had for this family, I felt that interaction between those characters and ME! His offspring are probably the only people who could make a suicide (by hanging no less) feel like a bloody escape.
Now... I'm going to warn you that there are two parts in this book that will make you pause. (Don't worry no spoilers here.). The first is an incident that involves Lattie Lang's husband. The father of the family he affects comes to speak to Jake and that conversation... if your eyes don't get a little bit wet then you have a heart of pure concrete.
The second part I alluded to earlier is the ending. 'A Time to Kill' has one of the most disturbing openings you'll read. 'Sycamore Row' has one of the most disturbing endings. The more you read the faster your heart beats. And the faster your heart beats the more you read. As you read this book you wonder "what does this have to do with that?", "what is the significance of that?" And then it hits you... right in the gut.
Hard.
'Sycamore Row' is history. 'Sycamore Row' is symbolic. 'Sycamore Row' is a place of pain. 'Sycamore Row' is a place of beauty. 'Sycamore Row' is one of the best books I've read this year.
*Personal note: John Grisham has had a few give-a-ways and contests with this new book of his. I entered but I didn't win. (No surprise there if you're familiar with my luck) You know what I wish John would do? I wish he would have a contest and then the winner(s) of the contest get to come to his house, sit on the porch, drink sweet (very sweet) iced tea, snack on boiled peanuts, and just listen to John tell stories. I've said this before but John has that old school, old soul, old traditional Southern way of telling stories. And it translates perfectly to paper.
Google Hangouts and FB question and answer sessions are great ways to connect us with our favorite writers. But imagine... just imagine a weekend in Mississippi immersed in the Southern culture, shooting the breeze on a slow Saturday afternoon with one of the most engaging storytellers writing today. THAT would be something. OK enough mindless meanderings from a book lover, back to your regularly scheduled life. And reading.
JOHN GRISHAM AT HIS "GRISHAM-ISH" BEST!
John Grisham, one of the most popular novelists of our time, first comes to prominence in 1988 with "A Time to Kill", a story set in a small town called Clanton, Mississippi, about a ten-year-old black girl ravaged by two whites, of an incensed father who takes the law into his own hands, killing the two rapists in a courthouse shooting, and of the young but sharp defense lawyer Jake Brigance who saved him from certain death.
Twenty-five years later, John Grisham brings back Jake Brigance to his stomping ground, the fictional town of Clanton, Mississippi and its courthouse in his new novel, Sycamore Row, which centers on a new trial that exposes Clanton's uneasy past with race relations. The sequel is about Brigance fighting for justice in a case that could tear the small town of Clanton apart.
A semblance of normalcy has been restored to Clanton after Brigance won acquittal for Carl Lee Hailey, but the deep fissure it had created was still smoldering. His house was burned down, and he nearly paid with his own life. But many of those involved in the incident still walked free. Though the case grabbed nation-wide attention, there's still no drastic change and Jack Brigance is still a small-town lawyer. Nothing out of the ordinary seems to be happening...
In one corner of Clanton lives Seth Hubbard, a reclusive rich old man who is dying of lung cancer. In a quirk turn of event, he hangs himself from a sycamore tree one rainy afternoon. His maid who took care of him for the last three years was kicked out of the house and left to fend for her family by Hubbard's greedy family who arrived soon after his death to stake claim to his property. It's assumed that they would inherit his estate and all that therein.
But something extraordinary happens. Unknown to others, a day before committing suicide Seth Hubbard had written a new will, cancelling out his previous will and cutting out his two children and their children, leaving five percent to Irish Road Christian Church, another five percent to his brother and a whopping 90 percent which comes to more than $20 million to Lettie Lang, his black housekeeper, and mailed it to Clanton lawyer Jack Brigance, asking him to defend it in the event it was contested.
When the handwritten will arrive in the mail, along with a forwarding letter why he did what he did, Brigance knows just how fragile and racially charged the case will be. With the Carl Lee Hailey case still fresh in the townsfolk's memory, everyone asked the same question: Why should the housekeeper get the fortune? The majority of the inhabitants of Clanton feel that Hubbard's fortune should go to his children. No one was willing to let a black maid become the richest person in town.
But the young lawyer is willing to risk everything, and even his reputation, or what was left of it after the Carl Lee Hailey case, and decided to take up cudgels on behalf of Lettie Lang. It is a case fraught with danger, drama and doggedness. How it unfolds is what Grisham's novels are all about.
Sycamore Row may not be as violent as A Time to Kill, but it is as riveting and enjoyable, if not more. John Grisham is a master of legal thriller and courtroom drama who more than does justice to his story in the book. What is especially characteristic of Grisham's novels is the way he built up the plot, heart pounding and pulsating with an intense feeling of expectancy, and bringing it to its grand finale. Full of intrigue, conspiracy, suspense, drama and plot twists in the typical Grisham-style, it is a novel which is not to be missed.