A Painted House
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| A Painted House | |
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| Author | John Grisham |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Thriller |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Publication date | 6 February 2001 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 400 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 038550120X |
A Painted House is a February 2001 novel by American author John Grisham.
Inspired by his childhood in Arkansas [1], it is Grisham's first major work outside the legal thriller genre in which he established himself. Set in the late summer and early autumn of 1952, its story is told through the eyes of seven-year-old Luke Chandler, the youngest in a family of cotton farmers struggling to harvest their crop and earn enough to settle their debts. The novel portrays the experiences that bring him from a world of innocence into one of harsh reality.
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[edit] Plot
The story begins to unfold as Luke and his grandfather Eli (aka Pappy) search for migrant workers to help them with the cotton picking. They initially consider themselves lucky to hire the Spruills, a family of "hill people," and a few of the Mexicans who annually come to the area looking for work.
Aside from working long hours under the hot sun in the fields, Luke's life is fairly idyllic until he sees overly aggressive Hank Spruill attack three boys from the notorious Sisco family, one of whom is beaten so severely he dies from his wounds. Hank arrogantly identifies Luke as a friendly witness who can support his version of the event, and the fearful boy backs up his story, although the adults in his life, including local sheriff Stick Powers, suspect he's too frightened to admit the truth. When Cowboy, one of the Mexicans, later murders Hank and tosses his body into the river, he threatens to kill Luke's mother if he tells anyone what he saw. Luke also learns that his admired Uncle Ricky, fighting in the Korean War, may have fathered a child with a daughter of their poverty-stricken sharecropping neighbors.
Grisham surrounds these dramatic moments with descriptive passages of life in the rural South and the ordinary events that fill Luke's weekly routine. His hard work in the fields is preceded by a hearty breakfast of eggs, ham, biscuits, and the one cup of coffee his mother allows him, and at day's end he's rewarded with an evening on the front porch, where the family gathers around the radio to listen to Harry Caray announce the St. Louis games. A devoted fan, Luke is saving his hard-earned money to buy a team baseball warm-up jacket he saw advertised in the Sears, Roebuck catalog. Saturday afternoons are spent in town, where the adults share idle gossip and serious concerns and the youngsters visit the movie house, while Sunday morning is reserved for church. A visiting carnival, the annual town picnic, and Luke's introduction to television - to see a live broadcast of a World Series game - are additional bits of local color scattered throughout the tale.
The book's title refers to the Chandler house, which never has been painted, a sign of their lower social status in the community. One day Luke discovers someone furtively has been painting the weatherbeaten clapboards white, and eventually he continues the job with the approval of his parents and the assistance of the Mexicans, even contributing some of his own savings for the purchase of paint. The house's gradual transformation symbolizes the changes in the boy and his family as they prepare to enter a new phase in their lives.
[edit] Major characters
- Luke Chandler, youngest in the family and the protagonist of the story.
- Eli "Pappy" Chandler, Luke's highly respected and hard-working grandfather and patriarch of the family.
- Ruth "Gran" Chandler, Luke's quiet, conservative, and wise grandmother who prays for the safe return of her younger son, Ricky, from the Korean War.
- Jesse Chandler, Luke's father, who served during World War II, and struggles to help his father erase the family's debt.
- Kathleen Chandler, Luke's mother, who tends to the garden while dreaming of a better life in a suburban home with indoor plumbing and modern conveniences.
- Hank Spruill, the 'hill people' family's oldest son, a boasting oaf quick to respond with violence to anyone who dares to criticize him or his heritage.
- Tally Spruill, the civilized seventeen year-old daughter in the visiting family, who let Luke watch her bathe and ran off with Cowboy.
- Cowboy, the Mexican who carries a switchblade and is quick to use it as a threat . . . or worse.
[edit] Additional characters
- The remainder of the Spruill family, consisting of the parents who fear Hank and their two nephews, Bo and Dale, and younger son Trot, who is mentally slow and has a crippled left arm. Trot is the only member of the family next to his older sister Tally who Hank is never cruel to.
- Pop and Pearl Watson, owners of the local store, a meeting place for the community.
- Miguel, leader of the Mexicans.
- Brother Akers, the fiery minister of the Black Oak Baptist Church.
- Jimmy Dale, who works at a Buick plant in Michigan and offers to help his cousin Jesse find employment if he and his family relocate north.
- Stacy, Jimmy Dale's snobbish bride, who is horrified by the Chandler's living conditions and becomes the butt of Luke's practical joke as retaliation for her arrogant attitude.
- Stick Powers, Black Oak's lazy sheriff, who asserts his authority when necessary but would prefer to catnap in his car parked in the shade.
- The Latcher family, whose daughter Libby gives birth to what may be Ricky Chandler's son.
- Dewayne, Luke's best friend.
- Ricky Chandler, Luke's nineteen year-old uncle.
[edit] Television adaptation
On April 27, 2003, CBS broadcast a television adaptation directed by Alfonso Arau for the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Aside from advancing Luke's age from seven to ten and adding a brief scene at the end, Patrick Sheane Duncan's teleplay remained faithful to its source and frequently used Grisham's dialogue verbatim.
The cast included Scott Glenn as Pappy, Logan Lerman as Luke, Robert Sean Leonard as Jesse, Melinda Dillon as Gran, Arija Bareikis as Kathleen, Audrey Marie Anderson as Tally, Luis Garcia as Cowboy, and Pablo Schreiber as Hank.
| Preceded by The Brethren |
John Grisham Novels 2001 |
Succeeded by Skipping Christmas |
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