The Testament by John Grisham 5

 

"You die with eleven billion, and people care about your last will and testament. Especially if there's a chance that one of the world's great fortunes is about to be fed to the vultures. The tabloids were there, along with the local papers and all the important financial magazines. The three rows Wycliff had designated for the press were full by nine-thirty. The journalists had a delightful time watching the Phelans gather in front of them. Three artists worked feverishly."

           -from the novel

Troy Phelan is one of the richest men in the world and, nearing death changes his will in a very sneaky way. He has 3 ex-wives and many adult children who can't wait to get their hands on some of his great wealth, and it seems none of them are very deserving.

Nate O'Reilly, a D.C. litigator just out of rehab and way down on his luck is tapped to find the actual recipient of the Phelan fortune. She is Rachel Lane, Troy's illegitimate daughter about whom little is known except that she a missionary in a remote area of Brazil. 

Nate is lucky to survive a plane crash and boat problems in his search for the woman. Fortunately, he has a river guide named Jevy, who, by the way, adds some humor to a story that gets pretty intense.

I found this to be a page-turner; the rating is 5.

A Painted House by John Grisham

"I was scared and tired, almost faint again, and I just wanted everything to be normal, with the Mexicans and the Spruills out of our lives, with Ricky home, with the Latchers gone, with the nightmare of Hank erased from my memory. I was tired of secrets, tired of seeing things I was not supposed to see."

        -Luke, from the novel

I thought I had read this novel, but I really didn't remember much of it. It was not the legal thriller for which Grisham is best known. My rating is a 4.

The narrator/protagonist is Luke Chandler, a 7-year-old living on a cotton farm with his parents and grandparents in Arkansas. The setting is fall of 1952. Luke must help with the farm work but dreams of playing baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals. As a former elementary school teacher, I tend to identify with youthful characters.

The Chandler family has little money and they depend on the cotton crop for a living. It is harvest time and they must hire migrants to help with picking in order to get it done in time. These would include a family named Spruill, folks they call "hill people" from the Ozarks, and a group of several Mexicans. At his tender age Luke is exposed to adult situations brought on by these two groups including violence and a sexual encounter. One can surmise the ill effects on him from the quote above.

A painted house of the title is a status symbol in this time and place because people like the Chandlers cannot afford paint and are looked down on by those who can. I will leave it for you to find out more about why the title is fitting.

The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana R. Chambers 3

 

"I'm just fumbling my way through like everyone else, trying to do my best. One thing I learned---well, two things: Work hard. And never give up."

       -Julia's advice to Trixie, from the novel

I began reading this book thinking it was a biography and not until the Author's Note did I know for sure it is a work of fiction. But A Conversation with the Author, the Credits and Acknowledgements made it clear the author had done mountains of research to make this part of Julia's story as authentic as possible. 

A good portion of this book was over my head and other parts were confusing. There are so many acronyms for WWII, the author included a dictionary at the beginning to define them, for example OSS, FANY, SEAC, SACO, WRENS and several others. I don't read many spy novels, making this more challenging reading. There were so many characters, I almost gave up trying to keep track of who's who.

Julia McWilliams aspired to be a writer in her youth but ended up with the highest clearance working for the OSS in exotic (and dangerous) places like Ceylon, India and China. She is described in various places and by different people to be strong, resilient, intelligent, organized, dogged and ambitious. Reading this, it is hard not to be impressed, and she certainly managed to survive a few life-threatening incidents. 

I wondered if I wanted to keep reading when Julia's future husband, Paul Child, appeared. They didn't like each other at first, so I had to continue to find out how they eventually connected. I am rating the book a 3 since I liked it enough to finish and I learned a lot but didn't enjoy it immensely.