A Painted House by John Grisham

A Painted House takes place in the large farming community of Black Oak, Arkansas during the 1950's. Seven-year-old Luke Chandler live with his Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Pappy. It's cotton picking season and like every other year Pappy finds some Mexicans and Hill people, this year it's the Spruills, to pay to help pick it. As time goes on and everyone gets to know each other a little better, Luke realizes he has a crush on Tally Spruill who is reasonable older than, and Hank her brother is a real trouble maker. While in town one day Luke sees Hank get in the middle of a fight and ends up beating a guy to death with a 2x4. The next day when the a cop comes to the Chandler house to question the Spruills about the murder. Luke ends up getting asked about it and what he saw. This is when life seems to change for Luke. He lies about it in fear of getting beat by Hank. It's the first major lie he has told. As the story goes on, Luke is forced to keep more secrets; He saw Tally naked, Trot (Tally's little brother) is painting his house, and Luke's uncle is supposedly the father to a baby born into the poorest family in the town. Each secret effects him and the people around him.

Grisham uses imagery very well, and it really helps the reader imagine what the town looks like and what's going on. In this example Luke describing a field, "Around me, on all sides, neat rows of green and brown stalks stretched to the tree lines that boarded our land. At the top of the stalks, puffy bolls of cotton were popping forth... I saw an ocean of white. The fields were silent-no voices, no tractor engines, no cars on the road. For a moment, hanging on the trailer, I could almost understand why my farther wanted to be a farmer." (Grisham 22).

To me, the theme of the book would be that there is alway a path to a better life, and a new beginning.