Sycamore Row – John Grisham
Three years after the trial of Carl Lee Hailey, Jake Brigance finds himself in another charged trial, arguing in favor of the estate of Seth Hubbard, who wrote a new will and mailed it to Jake the day of his suicide. In this will, Seth, whom Jake had never met, dis-inherits his children and grandchildren and leaves almost his entire estate, estimated at over $20 million, to his black housekeeper. Facing higher powered lawyers arguing in favor of the dead man’s children, Jake seems to be at the end of his rope. At least until his former boss tracks down the one man alive who can explain the reasoning Seth did what he did.
While only three years passed between the trials of Carl Lee Hailey and the Seth Hubbard’s estate, it has been 24 years between A Time to Kill, John Grisham’s debut novel, and Sycamore Row, which was published in 2013. It has been 31 years since I read A Time to Kill, so I have little to no recollection of the details, but it still feels good to revisit these old friends. This outing was much deeper in the legal minutia than having thrills, which also made it a little different from Grisham’s more recent work. At least that which I have read.
