Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20200 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
This is the paperback edition of A Painted House which is publishing in December 2001. The hardback edition, which published in February 2001, is currently available.

Synopsis
The hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day. It was a Wednesday, early in September 1952. The Cardinals were five games behind the Dodgers with two weeks to go, and the season looked hopeless. The cotton, however, was waist high to my father, almost over my head, and he and my grandfather could be heard before supper whispering words that were seldom heard. It could be a "good crop." Thus begins the new novel from John Grisham, a story inspired by his own childhood in rural Arkansas. The narrator is a farm boy named Luke Chandler, age seven, who lives in the cotton fields with his parents and grandparents in a little house that's never been painted. The Chandlers farm eighty acres that they rent, not own, and when the cotton is ready they hire a truckload of Mexicans and a family from the Ozarks to help harvest it. For six weeks, they pick cotton, battling the heat, the rain, the fatigue, and sometimes, each other. As the weeks pass Luke sees and hears things no seven year old could possibly be prepared for, and finds himself keeping secrets that not only threaten the crop but will change the lives of the Chandlers forever.

"A Painted House" is a moving story of one boy's journey from innocence to experience.

From the Publisher
John Grisham's bestselling backlist repackaged with new fantastic covers

Customer Reviews

The most boring book ever
I would give it minus 5 stars if I only could. The worst, most boring book I have ever read. Do not buy it - it looks like someone else has written this book and Grisham just gave his name to promote it.

His best
I read A Painted House not knowing that it was not another legal thriller. I love most of Grisham's legal thrillers, despite them all being pretty much the same story with different names, but this book is better. The vivid description and emotive story lines combined with well developed characters make this book a joy to read.

This shows that Grisham could be a wonderful author of books other than legal thrillers, it is a shame that his other books the branch away from Law have not lived up to this very high standard.

Beautiful
I have read a few Grisham legal novels which aren't really my thing. This is far better in my opinion and shows that he is a very skilled writer. It was a beautiful story with beautiful and vivid descriptions. I really recommend this book but certainly warn that it is very unlike any other of his books that I have read.