Sycamore Row by John Grisham
In “Sycamore Row” John Grisham takes us back to Ford County where the racial tensions from before, forces Ford County to confront its tortured history.
Seth Hubbard was seen at church that Sunday morning dressed sharp and in a great mood in spite of his lung cancer. There was nothing to indicate that later that afternoon he would be found hanging from the estate’s sycamore tree. Earlier that morning he had called and told his employee, Calvin Boggs, to meet him at the sycamore tree that afternoon. When Boggs pulled up he noted Mr. Hubbard’s Cadillac was there and the drivers door and the Caddies trunk was open. Hubbard wasn’t there. He was up the road, hanging from the sycamore tree, still dressed in his good suit.
It was puzzling that there was a six foot ladder laying as if it had been kicked away from him making it look like he had hung himself, yet there was no mud, from the recent rain, anywhere on his clothes or shoes.
Jake Brigance, who is white, became infamous when he defended Carl Lee Hailey. Hailey is black and was being tried for killing the two white men who raped and brutalized his 10 year old daughter. Brigance was successful at the trial and because of his win he was under siege from the local Klan and their allies for over three years.
Just as things were slowing down he receives a letter and the revised will of Seth Hubbard. Hubbard is a very wealthy but was sick man dying from lung cancer. He writes that he killed himself because he was in too much pain and only had a few more weeks to live, so he decided to kill himself in order not to suffer any more.
The will, all done according to state regulations, cuts out his adult children and their kids and bequeths 90% of his very substantial fortune to his black maid He writes Jake that he chose him for his sterling character and representation of Carl Hailey. Needless to say that after the terms of the will are made known, all hell breaks loose and Jakes family, the black maid and his friends are once again in danger.
Racism is still alive and ugly in Mississippi, just as it is in the rest of our country, in all segments of our society. In this legal thriller, John Grisham brings this hate and ugliness to the forefront.
Grisham is one of the best legal thriller authors alive today. He has written bestsellers, one a year for over each one better than the other, for the last 25 years. He is a master storyteller who is expert at characterizations of all the players. Do yourself a favor, go buy your copy at Amazon. Find Sycamore Row on Amazon.
