Sycamore Row

Sycamore Row – by John Grisham

Some have advertised this as the “sequel” to Grisham’s first novel “A Time To Kill”.  That’s a bit of a stretch.  It’s more like another story using many of the same characters from Grisham’s first effort that rightly propelled the author to stardom.  In that novel, Grisham told us the story of a young lawyer named Jake Brigance who defended an African-American man after he killed two white redneck racists after they raped his little girl.  Being that the story took place in the Deep South in the 1980s, the story was filled with racial overtones.  It was a great book and, at the risk of divulging a spoiler, it had a very satisfying conclusion.

Well, in real life, after such a momentous occasion, the good guys rarely live happily ever after.  Even though Jake becomes a celebrity, things quickly go back to normal, and he ends up being just another lawyer in a small town that’s already too crowded with lawyers.  

So he plods along the best he can trying to keep himself, his wife, and his young daughter above the poverty level.

Then he receives a letter.  It’s actually a revised will from a dying millionaire named Seth Hubbard, who has just committed suicide by hanging himself.  In the new will, Hubbard  essentially disinherits his entire family, and wants to leave the bulk of his fortune to his African-American housekeeper.  Jake is to be the executor of the will.

So Grisham then does what Grisham does best.  He tells a tale of how such an event is likely to occur, while at the same time, educating his readers on many aspects of the legal profession.  The task of throwing the old will out the window and replacing it with the new one isn’t going to be easy.  There are too many greedy lawyers and clients around and everyone is throwing wrenches into the work to discredit the revised will.    Was Seth delusional?  After all, the mad DID kill himself.  Was he doped up on pain medication?  And who is this mysterious housekeeper anyway?  Was there hanky-panky going on between the two?  Did SHE somehow coax him into this?

And on and on and on.  Fortunately, Jake knows the law pretty well, but he’s drastically outnumbered and outspent.  The good thing about Jake’s situation is that he is getting paid pretty well for the entire process regardless of the outcome.  Still, however, Jake is a lawyer with high moral standards (such creatures are rare in a Grisham novel), so he’s doing his due diligence and working long hours to ensure justice is done.

This is a very typical Grisham novel.  For the most part, that is a good thing.  You never get bored hearing about how the legal system really works as opposed to how it’s supposed to work.  The one drawback I had about this story is it seem to contain an awful lot of red herrings.  There were simply too many side stories and episodes that really didn't add much to the entire plot, yet I kept thinking that they somehow would.  One episode in particular has Jake and family pondering buying a rather expensive house since money is now coming in.  I kept wanting to warn Jake that this money would only be temporary, and what good would it be to have a nice expensive house once this case is over and you’re back to thinking about food stamps??

I’d also add that reading the first “episode”, A Time to Kill, isn’t really necessary, although I would recommend reading that one as well since it is one of Grisham’s best.  This was a very good read, although I’m a bit tired of the whole “the real legal profession” shtick.  Grisham has written a few novels about stuff other than law, and most of those books have been equally as rewarding.  I would like to see him dabble more frequently in different genres.