A Painted House - John Grisham

Advantages: nostalgic, easy to read, interesting
Disadvantages: may be slow-paced for you if you're expecting Grisham's usual style

Wow, a John Grisham book without lawyers. For those of you that are unacquainted with his books, he is an all-American-lawyer-who’s-seen-sense-and-turned-to-writing author. Needless to say, his books focus around lawyers, intrigue and/or criminality. The film ‘The Firm’, with Tom Cruise, was based upon his book of the same name. With ‘A Painted House’ however, he turns his back on the mean, greedy, double-crossing affairs ...
...1950s America. Luke, a seven year old boy of traditional Southern farming stock, narrates the book. We enter the lives of his family in September 1952; a significant period, and a significant season. -The Korean War is leaving families in a perpetual state of apprehension, ensuring that the news is on every evening. -America is in a state of extreme technological division, with recent advents such as the television making their marks on the nation, ... Read review

Advantages: A story of rural life in Arkansaw in 1950s as through the eyes of a 7 year old
Disadvantages: Do not be expecting John Grisham's usual style of writing

...“A Painted House” free with a book club l belong to. Im generally more of a Maeve Binchy girl – heart rendering tales of betrayal through love etc etc. I have read Grisham novels in the past – The Firm, The Client and so on – they generally all have been Mafia based with a court case. I didn’t know anything about his new novel so when l picked it up to read l was assuming something similar. WRONG! From reading ...
...the eyes of a child – Luke Chandler in 1952. It was his experiences one summer from picking cotton in his grandfather’s fields in rural Arkansas. It is also said to loosely based around Grisham’s own child hood experiences. The line that had me worried was and l quote “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 ... Read review

Advantages: Easygoing read; Good plot
Disadvantages: some over-stereotyping

...had always considered John Grisham a writer of courtroom dramas and not a writer of ‘day-to-day’ life on an Arkansas cotton farm. And neither did I think he could write with a perceptive eye for characterisation and a detail that involves the reader. He does, and he does it well in A Painted House. I will raise one arm humbly and admit that I have never read a John Grisham novel. The simple reason being that his genre of writing has ...
...this novel were not a freebie. A Painted House is narrated by Luke, aged 7, whose family has toiled for years on a cotton farm. The farm is neither owned outright by the family or profitable. During the picking season, Luke’s grandfather hires hill people and Mexicans, who are due to remain on the farm until the cotton has been picked or the St. Francis river floods the fields. He in turn hires the Spruill family and a group of Mexicans. Here ... Read review

Advantages: Shows John Grisham in a new, but still superb, light
Disadvantages: None

...year, but if you are a Grisham fan, beware! This story is like no other Grisham tale other than that it is a superb read. It is apparently based, loosely, on Grisham's childhood. Whereas his previous novels like The Firm, The Street Lawyer, The Brethren and The Runaway Jury among others have been based on a lawyer or lawyers, The Painted House is about a little boy called Luke Chandler living in rural Arkansas in 1952 with his family who are cotton ...
...like a very exciting tale but you would be wrong. Although it is not as fast moving as Grisham's other novels, there is plenty of action and suspense. Luke lives with his mother, father, grandmother and grandfather (Pappy). His uncle Ricky is away fighting in Korea. The Chandlers only have a small farm but still need help when it time for the cotton to be picked. The help comes in the form of The Mexicans and a travelling family, The Spruills. The ... Read review

Advantages: great book
Disadvantages: not perfect

A Painted House - John Grisham It’s been a long time since I have been on ciao so excuse my rustiness, so without further ado, I shall get started. This is, to the best of my knowledge, John Grisham’s twelfth book. I have read all the previous ones bar two (Pelican Brief and Time to Kill.) This book, however, has finally made the leap away from the usual legal thriller though. Most people know John Grisham writes books about lawyers, ...
...for it. This made A Painted House a big risk as it is hard to tell how a writer who has been so focused on one genre can switch and go off on a tangent. I was pleasantly surprised. The story centres on rural Arkansas and in particular, a young boy called Luke Chandler. He is the son of a farmer and although we are not told, it is safe to assume the Chandler family have been farming for many years. Luke is seven and spends his summer trudging around ... Read review

Advantages: Its better than his other recent efforts
Disadvantages: The ending is a complete let down

...I have been reading John Grisham for more years than I care to recall, I always loved his thrillers and although they became a little formulaic, I still found the legal machinations fascinating. However his recent novels, the dull Bleachers and the dead loss Painted House, left me cold so I thought his return to the courtroom drama of old in The Last Juror would redeem him, unfortunately it hasn't. The Last Juror is a largely descriptive novel told from the perspective of a young newspaper owner, Willie Traynor, whose first big story is the murder of a young widow, Rhoda Kassellaw. Rhoda it appears has been brutally raped and murdered by Danny Padgitt, a member of the unpleasant Padgitt family who live on an island in Ford county and seem to like nothing better than terrorising and intimidating their neighbours, when not dealing... Read review

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Advantages: No "Edotor's choice", minimal commitment, fixed postage costs.
Disadvantages: 75% off all books only applies to introductory offer>

...’s latest Dalziel and Pascoe, “Dialogues of the Dead” for £4, and they were prepared to give me a free book too, John Grisham’s “A Painted House”, just for the pleasure of having me buy from them. Even with P&P at £3.99 I couldn’t believe I was getting three hardback books for £12.24. I could have bought up to six books. There are other books currently in the introductory offer. In the “Real Life” section there’s Randy Taraborelli’s “Madonna” (that’s real life?), and Jamie Oliver’s “The Return of the Naked Chef” in the Non-Fiction, plus quite a few others, and, yes, they’re all 75% off. My books arrived within a few days, and I was a little disappointed to find that they were all Club Editions (I can’t speak for the other... Read review

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