New Grisham novel set in Black Oak

By NAN SNIDER

Grisham used actual names of many of his Black Oak friends, for the characters of his book, while others were given new names. For anyone who grew up in that era at hand picked cotton, having workers move in to help with the harvest, and rural life on the outskirts of a small town, this book is like a visit back in time, when life ran at a slower pace.

Grisham takes the reader on a journey from innocence to experience, inspired by the author’s rural upbringing.

Luke Chanler is the seven-year-old narrator, in the story, and he lives in a house off the main roads, surrounded by cotton fields.

The fact that this house was never painted became a bone of contention between Luke and Hank Spruill, a cotton Picker, from the hills, that had come to work for Luke’s family.

Luke find’s himself keeping secrets that could threaten the harvest and change the lives of the whole family.

The Chandlers farmed 80 acres, and they rent, not own, and when the cotton is ready to pick they had hired a truckload of Mexicans and a hill family from the Ozarks to help them harvest it.

For six hard weeks they pick cotton, battling the heat, the rain, the fatigue and some times, each other. As the weeks pass Luke sees and hears things no seventeen-year-old could possibly be prepared to hear and finds himself keeping powerful secrets.

On the backside of the book cover, Grisham writes, "The hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day. It was a Wednesday, early in September 1952. The Cardinals were five games behind the Dodgers with three weeks to go, and the season looked hopeless. The cotton, however, was waist-high to my father, over my head, and he and my grandfather could be heard before supper whispering words that were seldom heard. I could be a "good crop."

The name chosen for Grisham’s 12^th novel came from Hank Spruill’s harsh and painful statement to young Luke.

"We got a house nicer than yours, boy," said Hank, "You believe that? A lot nicer. It’s bigger, got a long front porch, got a tin roof without tar patches, and you know what else it’s got? You ain’t gonna believe this boy, but our house’s got paint on it. White paint. You ever seen paint, boy? Why don’t you sodbuster’s paint your houses?"

After that confrontation, young Luke ran down the field road, and ducked into the tall cotton and cried, something he really hated to do, especially in front of people.

At the close of the book, Luke and his family are at the Greyhound bus station, in Jonesboro, leaving the farm, heading for Chicago to work. Luke’s grandfather gets in his old truck to leave and head back to the farm, near Black Oak.

"Back to the floods, back to the Latchers, back to long winter….I was relieved not to be going back," Grisham wrote. A Painted House was released in a six-part serial, in the Grisham-published Oxford American magazine. The closing of the book is left open ended, as is there just might be a sequel.

Mary Gay Shipley is the owner and manager of That Bookstore, and is a personal friend of Grisham, having believed in his talents from the beginning of his writing career.

Grisham’s stop in Blytheville, was one stop of his "World book tour." My version of a world book tour is Blytheville, Oxford, Miss., Tupelo, Miss., Memphis, and Jackson, Miss.," Grisham said. "Twelve years ago when I was trying to publish A Time To Kill, these five stores helped me promote it with book signings. These guys were happy to help me and are also very supportive."

On hand for the book signing was Grisham’s mother, his three aunts, his brother, former classmates and long lines of happy book customers.

Visit the Official Website for A Painted House at