"Grisham is a marvelous storyteller who works readers the way a good trial lawyer works a jury."
-The Philadelphia Inquirer
Wow! This one is a 5 for sure! I could hardly put it down. I was pretty sure that would be the case since most of Grisham's novels have grabbed me that way.
Attorney Jake Brigance, the main character from A Time to Kill, reappears in this novel to defend the hand-written will of Seth Hubbard, a man who has committed suicide. The will is shocking for this Mississippi town in the size of the estate, its disregard of family and the person selected to receive most of the assets. In a letter to Jake, Seth charges him with defending the will to the letter, knowing his son and daughter will surely contest it. There are reverberations of Mississippi's past (and present) racial tensions and especially references to Jake's successful defense of Carl Lee Hailey three years prior to this story. It is helpful if one has read A Time to Kill or seen the movie since Grisham refers to the Hailey trial a number of times.
The plot is primarily centered around the question of WHY Seth Hubbard changed his will the way he did. Some of the answer to that question reminded me of Mildred Taylor's series of YA fiction, particularly Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, one of my favorite novels ever, in which the black Logan family has to fight to hold on to the land they own in Mississippi. Also the author keeps the reader wondering about the title for quite a while; no revelation until the final chapters.
Several of Grisham's legal thrillers have been adapted to movies. I surely hope this one will be! I wonder if Michael McConaughey is too old to reprise his role of Jake!
No comments:
Post a Comment