Returning to a favorite character is like going to the little house your parents rented every summer at the shore. It feels good, familiar, and you know you will enjoy yourself. You get giddy just thinking about it.
When a favorite character is also a hero – well… We want to believe in heroes; but, not the perfect kind of superheroes, the ones with flaws like us, and fears like us. The kind of hero that will do the right thing because he has too, not because he wants too. John Grisham’s character, Jake Brigance from “A Time to Kill,” was that kind of hero to me. After so many years and numerous books, Grisham once again returned to Jake Brigance in his latest book, “Sycamore Row.”
My excitement was at such high levels, that I bought the book (that’s right – the Hardcover book) the day it came out.
The book returns to the fictional town of Clanton, Mississippi, and the courthouse three years after the Carl Lee Hailey trial (1988). In “Sycamore Row,” Jake has been given another difficult task, to defend a handwritten will made by Seth Hubbard before he killed himself. Seth left almost his entire estate to his housekeeper, Hetty, and excluded his children. A few years before Seth commitment suicide, he had another will where he left everything to his family. The estate was over $20 million dollars and everybody who could (lawyers, family, etc.) tried to get a piece of the money. The battle lines were drawn.
As the plot thickens, and Grisham throws all sorts of interesting irons into the fire, I’m reminded just how complicated a case can be. I had been a paralegal for over 20 years, and a case, whether civil or criminal, is never quite what it seems at the beginning.
So, how has Jake been? Like most of us, Jake has changed – nothing severe, just a mellowing, a cautiousness has settled over him. Grisham did a fine job with this non-sequel sequel, showing all the ramifications of Jake’s defense of Carl Lee Hailey. Jake didn’t become a superstar when the Hailey trial was over. His idealism has become realism and he needs to make money to get his family out of the tiny, broken-down rental they live in. To say nothing about getting a reasonable car. Being a lawyer isn’t quite what you see on TV.
This book will certainly give your book club something to talk about. The family dysfunction of the Hubbard family, as the pieces are uncovered during trial, will make for good conversation at book clubs. Grisham also touches on the lingering prejudices (white and black) in the South in the 1980’s. The ending opens up an interesting topic of redemption (for some, but not for others, which in itself makes for a good conversation).
Rating: 8.5