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Title: A Painted House

Author: John Grisham

Narrator: David Lansbury

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-19-01

Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1211 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Thus begins the new novel from John Grisham, a story inspired by his own childhood in rural Arkansas. The narrator is a farm boy named Luke Chandler, age seven, who lives in the cotton fields with his parents and grandparents in a little house that's never been painted. The Chandlers farm eighty acres that they rent, not own, and when the cotton is ready they hire a truckload of Mexicans and a family from the Ozarks to help harvest it.

For six weeks they pick cotton, battling the heat, the rain, the fatigue, and sometimes each other. As the weeks pass Luke sees and hears things no seven-year-old could possibly be prepared for, and he finds himself keeping secrets that not only threaten the crop but will change the lives of the Chandlers forever.

Critic Reviews:

"The kind of book you read slowly because you don't want it to end." (Entertainment Weekly)

Members Reviews:

A Departure and Yet Another Solid Story

This book caught me by surprise - I am I think like most people, in that I have a habit of classifying authors by the themes they write on, and of course this author made that very easy with his previous body of work, which as we all know is the result of his being a part of that profession... However I believe that it is fair to say that this book represents his break-out effort, as he has completely departed from the well-known and comfortable style of his other work and charted new territory here.

A Painted House will not disappoint. While it is not a part of what we have come to anticipate from the author, this book is not only an enjoyable tale in its own right, but the equal to and I honestly believe perhaps even better than what came before it. It establishes the author as an author in the literal sense, rather than a writer in a limited area.

This book is best read on a rainy day, preferably on your covered front porch or deck, with a nice hot cup of tea or coffee to keep you company. There is a lot of detail and emotional measure to it, and the perspective will, if you allow yourself to give the empathy that the narrative character deserves, leave you convinced that you've just put down a classic when you are done. I would have given this book six stars if they had let me.

Change of Pace for a talented writer.

Grisham is a brilliant writer of suspense and intrigue, however this offering is quite a change of pace for him. He seems to be in a reflective mode. Perhaps this is a story that he wanted to tell from the past. It's like reading "Little House on the Prairie". Why can't an author have several genres in his genes? Don't expect a courtroom drama or even a story about a lawyer. It's about small town life. However, the mindset of the narrator is a little much for a "seven" year old boy - maybe "twelve".

This is a great work no matter the author.

Bittersweet way of life of time past....

I listened to this book when it first came out & have recommended it to everyone. Tears came when it was over because I did not want the genre of rural times past to end. It is a book you will listen to over and over. It was a way of life once all over America that we all wish was still here. A time when children built a deeper character and became wiser to life in a way they will miss out in times present. Take everything good about the Waltons and add more maturity, mystery, intrigue, and suspense.