A gentle coming-of-age tale of a 7 year-old boy living on a family farm in Arkansas in the early 1950s. Much different from Grisham's thrillers and legal dramas, but enjoyable, even so. ( )

A story of poor Arkansas cotton farmers in 1950s. Interesting insights into living year to year praying that the climate will be kind and appropriate and the crop will bring in enough to repay debt and keep the family for the next year. Also views of the migratory workers who come for the picking season. Mexicans trucked in on open trailers and hill people who move from more remote parts of the south for the season. ( )

Loved this book, couldn't put it down. Is a great book about a poor young boy living in the south. ( )

3.5 Stars

Another challenge read, and though I would never pick this on my own, it wasn’t half bad.

Chronicling the harvest season of cotton, this is told from the POV of seven year old Luke Chandler, whose family is barely making ends meet. Though Luke witnesses some scary situations, shattering his innocence on several fronts, the lens through which we see things was endearing, funny, and sweet.

This was definitely a love letter from the author to his southern upbringing and roots. It also harkens back to a simpler time, an era without technology and the struggle of daily living to just survive and really taking into account what matters - family, community, and appreciating the small wins of the simple life. ( )

As a lawyer, I started reading Grisham for his legal books. I don't remember how I cam upon this one, but it is, frankly, my favorite among all of his works so far. It does not seem to be written for mass marketing; it is written from the heart, which is understandable since much of it was inspired by Grisham's own boyhood.

Having grown up in the Ozarks, having friends throughout southeastern Missouri and northern Arkansas, having traveled extensively through the years in the far northeastern reaches of the latter, I can tell you that the book is very much accurate regarding its depiction of everyday life there. There are still some far-flung, backwater pockets of the state, where the depictions could just as well be describing life in this day and age. ( )

Story of a young boy growing up on a cotton farm in Ark in the 50?s.

This is my first Grisham novel and it’s everything everyone has always said about his writing. This story was inspired by the author’s own life. He grew up as the son of a cotton farmer in Arkansas. It’s a slow, well-written story that brings you back in time, yet he keeps you interested with the events that take place on the cotton farm. At times, I found myself chuckling at the thoughts that went through this 7-year-old's mind, but I also found myself in tears a time or two because of the compassion shown in the story.

Set in 1952 rural Craighead County, in northeastern Arkansas, right outside of Black Oak, the closest town of about 300 people, little 7-year-old Luke Chandler is narrating. He is the son of a cotton farmer, and like all other children of cotton farmers in the area, they are let out of school two months early to help their families pick cotton. Luke’s family lived with his grandparents, Pappy and Gran. His number one love was baseball. All he ever dreamed about was being a Cardinal’s baseball player. And during baseball season, every evening after supper, the family gathered around the radio to listen to the games. They all took part and farmed about 80 acres every summer along with the help of migrant workers: Mexicans from Mexico and hillbillies from up in the Ozark hills.

This summer Luke was about to find out just how hard and risky life can be on cotton farms with rains that threatened to flood out their crop. He would also learn some valuable lessons in hate, love and caring for others even less fortunate, such as the sharecroppers, the lazy Mr. Flatcher, his worn-out wife, and their many barefoot kids, who had even less than his own family. They hired 10 Mexicans and the Spruill family from up in the hills. There would be trouble between the groups, especially between one rough Mexican nicknamed Cowboy and big Hank Spruill. You have 7-year-old Luke, scared for his and his family’s life, having to make some hard, grown-up decisions about what he sees and hears on the farm. He’s got to wrap his head around seeing their worker, big, mean Hank, stop an unfair fight between other hill kids while at a festival, but then his uncontrollable anger also caused him to pointlessly kill one of the kids. Hank was definitely a bad seed. He was the cause of all the friction between his own family, the Chandler family, and between him and Cowboy, which caused Cowboy to want to kill Hank.

When the grownups weren’t around, Hank was demanding to Luke and constantly sneering at him and putting him and his family down in front of the other Spruills, “You think you’re better than us, don’t you? Well, you don’t even have a painted house. Our house is at least painted.” Of course, they would all laugh at him. Well, before the story is over, his grandparent’s house does get painted with the help of mean Hanks autistic brother, Trot, who secretly started on the house, one board at a time, when no one was looking, and the rest of the Mexicans, all except Cowboy, who chipped in at the end to show their appreciation and respect for the Chandlers for how they were treated this summer on the farm. He also got help from the lazy sharecropper, Mr. Flatcher, who the Chandlers had to rescue his family from the flooding rivers and put up in their barn. A painted house was a rare thing to see back then in rural Arkansas, but this house’s paint represented so much more than just paint.
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MOVIE: A Painted House (2003), starring Scott Glenn & Logan Lerman, John Grisham (the author) narrating. ( )

A lot of nice and unexpected twist to the plot line. Held my attention to the end. I little disappointed that the Cowboy gets away with murder by escaping North with Tally. Ending left open with regards to what happens with Ricky. Lots of unanswered questions like does he come home from Korea, what's his reaction to the Latchner child. Sounds like this could be a subject for a second book in a series? ( )

What I liked most about this book is that it wasn't formula Grisham. I have enjoyed most of this "lawyer" books as a fun read...but this book has more depth than that and pleased me in another, entirely different, way. ( )

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Remember that thing I said about Koontz? Yeah, same goes for this book by Grisham.

The following might have hated it, but this was a work of art. ( )

arkansas cotton farmer, hired help, unpainted house, hard times. ( )

Interesting and unique book by John Grisham. Totally different from anything else I have read by him. ( )

"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 three weeks to go, and the season looked hopeless. The cotton, however, was waist-high to my father, 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. ( )

Not a book I would have picked up had it not been written by John Grisham. I thoroughly enjoyed it! ( )

He is a master of whatever genre he writes in. Legal thrillers are not my cup of tea and I am grateful that he wrote a literary novel about his childhood for us to read. Enjoyed it and would want to read it again ( )

Really enjoyed this Grisham book. ( )

This is the story of Luke Chandler he is 7 year old growing up on a cotton farm in Arkansas, the book is set in 1952.
Luke's family hire some Mexicans and Hill people to pick the Harvest.
There is a murder in town that Luke witnesses then a few weeks later one of the Mexicans kill the murderer.
Luke loves Baseball and misses his Uncle Ricky who is in Korea fighting the War.
He also with the help of the labourers starts painting the House they live in.
Times are hard for the Chandlers, its tough work picking Cotton and there is the Weather to think about.
In the end Luke along his Parents decide to move to the City so his Father can get a job in a Car factory.
OK book this. ( )

I do enjoy John Grisham's legal thrillers, but I am always curious when an author writes out his or her usual genre. I wasn't disappointed in this tale of a seven-year-old boy in Arkansas in 1952. David Lansbury was the narrator and I think he did an excellent job of both the young, old, female and male voices.

The first impression that I had of the beginning is that farming cotton is a risky and thankless job. When the crop is plentiful you get a low price. When the crop is scarce, you get a much better one. There is no way to succeed at it over time. There are several separate groups in this book who were to pick the family's cotton, the family that raised it and the migrant workers. The hill people in this book were proud that they had painted houses. They later stopped coming to pick the cotton. There were also the people from Mexico, hardworking and poor.

Luke Chandler, the seven-year-old, knew about the hopelessness of growing cotton and promised his mother that he would get an education and do something more promising. But this summer, they had to harvest the cotton, maybe for the last time. Luke is picking alongside the rest of them.
He happens to be a witness of a beating that turned into murder and later even see something so horrible that he could not tell his family or anyone else.

I enjoyed listening to this book but was disappointed when it ended. It seemed too abrupt and inconclusive.

Still I recommend it. ( )

Grisham man. I totally thought this was a coming of age drama (and yes, you could classify it thast way) But then it turns into this sort of crazy thriller where the poor kid is terrified out of his mind from just a few too many psychopaths in his life!! ( )

Very different type of book for John Grisham, but I really like it. ( )

A heartfelt tale of life of an Arkansas cotton farming family, set in 1952. Grisham has spun an extraordinary tale and totally captivates the reader if describing listening to a Cardinals baseball game on the radio or one of the many surprising events that take place throughout the book. The pacing is brilliant and is told through the eyes of seven year old Luke Chandler. ( )

This was an amazing novel. I never would have known it was John Grisham if it wasn't on the cover. It was like nothing else he has ever written. I think it is his best novel. ( )

Sharecropping in Arkansas. Cotton farming life in the mid 20th century. Hard life for all folks. Add a little mystery with immigrant pickers and Mexicans.Good story. Could be a sequel, since part of family moved to Michigan to work at auto plant. ( )

Grisham can be a great writer. I either love his books or they are just ok. This one was great. His first literary novel. My only issue was that it ended 50 pages too soon. He didn't finish the story. Too many ends left dangling. ( )