Hardback: Jake Brigance has never met Seth Hubbard, or even heard of him, until the old man's suicide note names him attorney for his estate. The will is dynamite. Seth has left ninety per cent of his vast, secret fortune to his housemaid.
(excerpt) Dear Mr Brigance:
To my knowledge we have never met, nor will we. By the time you read this I will be dead and that awful town you live in will be buzzing with its usual gossip. I have taken my own life but...
...This document is likely to start some trouble and that's why I want you as the attorney for my estate. I want this will defended at all costs and I know you can do it...
...Fight them, Mr Brigance, to the bitter end. We must prevail. Do not mention my last will and testament until after the funeral. I want my family to be forced to go through all the rituals of mourning before they realize they get nothing. Watch them fake it - they're very good at it. They have no love for me...
Sincerely, Seth Hubbard
October 1, 1988
The vultures are circling even before the body is cold: the only subject more incendiary than money in Ford County is race, and this case has both.
"Everything is about race in Mississippi, Jake, don't ever forget that. A simple black woman on the verge of inheriting what might be the largest fortune this county has ever seen, and the decision rests with a jury that's predominantly white. It's race and money, Jake, a rare combination around here."
As the relatives contest the will, and unscrupulous lawyers hasten to benefit, Jake searches for answers to the many questions left by Seth Hubbard's death:
What made him write that last-minute will leaving everything to a poor black woman named Lettie Lang?
Why did he choose to kill himself on the desolate piece of land once known as Sycamore Row?
And what was it that Seth and his brother witnessed as children that, in his words, 'no human should ever see'?
In the long-awaited successor to the novel that launched his phenomenal career, John Grisham brings us the powerful sequel to A Time To Kill (1989). As filled with page-turning twists as it is with legal mastery, Sycamore Row (2013) proves beyond doubt that Grisham is in a league of his own.
About the author: Back in 1984, John Grisham was working as a street lawyer when a real-life case inspired him to start writing A Time To Kill. The first print was modest: just 5000 copies, a thousand of which John sold himself from the trunk of his car. Then The Firm (1991) was published, and the rest, as they say, is history.
A Time To Kill was made into a major film starring Matthew McConaughey and has become one of the world's best-loved novels. John Grisham has written thirty-two internationally bestselling books, including the Theodore Boone series for children and the non-fiction blockbuster An Innocent Man (2006).
Find out more at jgrisham.com and stay in touch via Facebook at John Grisham Books.
Rating: 7/5
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