If you’re looking out for reading a book on the exiting lives of
lawyers in this novel...stay away from it, since there’s no lawyer in the book’s storyline. In fact, the only time the word lawyer comes in the book, is in the ’’About the author’’ brief.
This 40 something lawyer from rural Arkansas, responsible for the revival of legal thrillers (after Erle Stanley Gardner..the original legal thriller guy), with best sellers like A time to kill, The Pelican Brief, The Firm, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury..etc, came up with a ’’different’’ themed novel in ’’The Painted House’’.
’’The Painted House’’, is far removed from the hustle bustle of the legal battles in LA and Big Apple, the book is in fact the portrayal of life in Rural America, and takes you into a time capsule and transports you to the 50s. The story is actually said to have been inspired from the childhood days of the author himself.
The StoryLine :
The protagonist in the story is Little Luke Chandler, all of 7 years of age and his life in rural Arkansas. The storyline is not a page turner sort of book, with a water tight plot and white collar criminals crawling across the page. This storyline has a leisurely pace which is much suited , one of those types which would be suited for a lazy weekend holiday afternoon after a heavy lunch. Burp!
It talks in detail about the trials and difficulties of the lives of
the farming community in Central America. The book explains the special relationship Luke shares with his cousin who is fighting in Vietnam and his grandfather, whom he adores very much.
The story navigates around a family (The hill people) which comes to work in his farm as laborers and the Mexicans that his family hires to work in their cotton farms. There are a host of characters who suddenly spill into the book, but each character is wonderfully sketched into the storyline making it a good read.
Luke is at awe on seeing the lives of the Mexicans. They are brought to his farm at a price and end up living in the stable. Their poverty and the racial discrimination shown on them is portrayed very movingly. His mother’s portrayal as a progressive minded woman and her behavior towards the Mexicans is also very moving to read.
The Hill people family, who have also come to pick cotton however stay in the house. They have three children , Hank - the Bully, Tally - a good looking teenage girl and Trot - a special child. The story from then on revolves for a few hundred pages on how Luke’s relationship with the family members evolves from fright & fear to Friendship. Luke strikes a chord with Tally(The good looking girl) and Trot(the special boy) ..and then suddenly, the story takes a turn when Luke (The 7 year old protagonist) stumbles and peeps into something that he did not want to see.
Suddenly there’s blood on the pages of the otherwise innocent story. Murder. Love. Racial problems. All Hell Breaks loose. It is almost as if the small town in Arkansas is being swiped into a storm and at the vortex of the storm is the Chandler Family (Luke’s family).
What was it? What did Luke see that scared him so much? What did Luke see that is so vital to bring back peace to that small town. That’s for you to find out after you read the book.
Rating the book :
All in all, a refreshing change from John Grisham’s legal thrillers. There have been some people who say that this is not something that John should have tried his hand into and that he should stick to good old legal thrills and not a story like this, I however beg to differ.
There are times when people just do things, without taking into account commerciality and money making ...Writing this novel would have been a decision from the heart more than a decision from the mind.
Like I said, this is the ideal book for a Sunday. I read this after a heavy lunch on a Sunday, All curled up and sitting on the ’’Cane hanging chair’’ in my balcony. Since it was a Sunday, there were not too many vehicles on the road, so there was very little noise.
Seriously...It’s strange, but I don’t know why I have a clear recollection of all these nitty gritty details about reading this book
..... read on...tis a good lil book
Moonraker