Lit Lawvers discussion

Synopsis:

eth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier.

The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly? And what does it all have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row?

So how many of you have read it? I did not enjoy it as much as the original thriller A Time to Kill. In part, that's because the stakes were much lower. It was a question of money from a will instead of a murder conviction.

Having associated Matthew McConaughey with the movie role of Jake, I could not help but picture him while reading this book. I kept waiting for Jake to say "Alright, alright, alright."

I read it earlier this year. I had the same problem reading Jake as Matthew M. I enjoyed the book and appreciated Grisham turning a will dispute into a courtroom "drama."

Was it worth having a sequel?

A Time to Kill was Grisham's first book and he is a better writer now. The original story did not call out for a sequel, but Grisham must have wanted to revisit Ford County again.

I'm part way through the book and I'm really enjoying it. The fact that I see Matthew McConaughey as Jake is an added benefit (Sweet visual). For me, A Time to Kill, was Grisham's best work, but this type of sequel is working for me because it is different. So often, sequels try to be too much like the first book.

I liked the weaving in of some familiar characters from A Time to Kill. I think if Grisham tried to do a true sequel, it would fail, so the way he wrote Sycamore Row was smart. I think Of the book as more a crossover with a shared main character and less of a sequel. Similar to the Alex Cross books. I am not complaining, A Time to Kill is my favorite of Grisham's books, so I enjoyed going back.

I think we might disagree about the definition of a sequel.

It was good to go back. I think Grisham paints a much richer picture of Ford County in Sycamore Row.