Book summary

It's harvest time at the Chandler family farm in Arkansas, and there are two groups of workers on hand to help pick the burgeoning cotton crop. There are the Spruills, a large family from the Ozark mountains; and there is also a group of migrant workers from Mexico. When beautiful young Tally Spruill becomes romantically involved with Cowboy, a dashing Mexican, tensions begin to build. The flames are fanned by Hank Spruill, an adolescent boy who is perfectly capable of beating a man to death with his bare hands. The story is told from the point of view of 7-year-old Luke Chandler, and is based on Grisham's own recollections of his boyhood. More than just the story of mounting tension between the Spruills and the Mexican migrants, it is also a meditation on childhood in a bygone rural America.

Media reviews

"Grisham tells his story at a languid pace but, like the good suspense writer that he is, keeps subtly building the tension. His portrayal of a young boy's harsh coming of age is sensitively done.... His transition out of the suspense genre is seamless and a pleasant surprise."