I have read all the works of JOHN GRISHAM and this book happens to be the first novel by JOHN GRISHAM which doesn’t have a lawyer as it’s main protagonist or doesn’t have a courtroom trial as it’s basic theme. Of course later on GRISHAM did write many such novels such as SKIPPING CHRISTMAS and BLEACHERS but these aren’t half as interesting as compared to the novel that we are discussing.
I remember picking up this book with doubts in my mind regarding whether this book is going to be an interesting one or not considering the genre of this book, but I wasn’t disappointed at all as this book proved to be an excellent one. Read on to find why I think this is such a good book.
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THEME:
A PAINTED HOUSE has a boy LUKE CHANDLER, age seven, as it’s main protagonist. The novel has a setting in rural ARKANSAS in the summer of 1952 and GRISHAM says this is inspired from his own childhood. Luke lives with his parents and grandparents while his Uncle Ricky is fighting for the Americans in KOREA. Luke is born in a poor family who just have leased farms, an old tractor, and an UNPAINTED house as their only possessions. The picking season has started, cotton is waist high and the MEXICANS and HILL PEOPLE (a family called SPRUILLS) have arrived. The book starts here and LUKE who is the narrator describes his journey from innocence to experience in the six weeks where he sees and hears things which no seven year old could be possibly prepared for, and finds himself keeping secrets that not only threaten the crop but change the lives of the CHANDLERS forever.
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WHERE THE BOOK SCORES:
The book is written in such a simple and lucid manner that it keeps you enthralled. GRISHAM has described the life in rural CENTRAL AMERICA during the 50’s in such a manner that you can actually imagine what rural AMERICA used to be like in those days.
For little LUKE listening to commentary of a baseball match on the radio, or reading a letter from his UNCLE RICKY or a rare visit to the cinema or town are highlights of his life. He aspires to be a great baseball player like STAN MUSIAL of CARDINALS and thinks of baseball all the time. The way the character of LUKE is sketched out and how his narration from the beginning to end moves you is where the book scores.
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FINAL VERDICT:
Well if you are an ardent GRISHAM fan after reading his court-room dramas and are looking for yet another court-room drama, you are bound to be disappointed a little but I am sure this book will not make you lose your faith in GRISHAM as an author.
As for first timers, who haven’t read a single novel of GRISHAM I will suggest start with this because this book is just the introduction for all the good things to come in the form of novels like THE FIRM, THE CLIENT and A TIME TO KILL.