Sycamore Row
John Grisham, 2013
★ 4.11 from 144.7k ratings on Goodreads
After a Mississippi man hangs himself, a handwritten will sets lawyer Jake Brigance against a town determined to bury the past. A calm, wry Southern legal story moves slowly through money, grief and small-town manners, with dread under the surface.
Feels like serenity and dread. About death, society and morality.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy Southern courtroom dramas, moral disputes over a will, and Grisham's return to Clanton and Jake Brigance. The opening suicide and lingering dread may weigh on you if you want lighter courtroom fare.
Why read it
It gives you a patient look at how a town's unwritten rules collide with a dead man's written wishes, and why the past is hard to bury.
A page from the book
What we talk about when we can't explain a death.
They found Seth Hubbard in the general area where he had promised to be, though not exactly in the condition expected. He was at the end of a rope, six feet off the ground and twisting slightly in the wind. A front was moving through and Seth was soaked when they found him, not that it mattered. Someone would point out that there was no mud on his shoes and no tracks below him, so therefore he was probably hanging and dead when the rain began. Why was that important? Ultimately, it was not. John Grisham.Sycamore Row returns to Clanton and Jake Brigance, the lawyer from Grisham's 1989 debut, A Time to Kill.
Books that feel like this
More by John Grisham
The Rainmaker
John Grisham, 1995
A broke law student sues an insurance company for a family it refused to help, and finds out what a lawsuit really costs.
The Pelican Brief
John Grisham, 1992
A law student's hunch about two murdered Supreme Court justices makes her the target of a hunt she never asked for.
The Street Lawyer
John Grisham, 1985
A young associate witnesses a terrifying heist in a high-stakes law firm, forcing him to confront the true power structures that lie beneath the veneer of corporate justice.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is Sycamore Row for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy Southern courtroom dramas, moral disputes over a will, and Grisham's return to Clanton and Jake Brigance. The opening suicide and lingering dread may weigh on you if you want lighter courtroom fare.
- What is Sycamore Row like?
- A calm, wry Southern legal story moves slowly through money, grief and small-town manners, with dread under the surface. Feels like serenity and dread. About death, society and morality.
- What should I read after Sycamore Row?
- If you liked Sycamore Row, try The Housemaid (Freida McFadden), The Couple Next Door (Shari Lapena) and Terror Keep (Edgar Wallace).
A taste of the feed
The shortest possible answer to a question about books.
What do you like to read?” “Books.” “What kind of books?” “The kind with words.
The Housemaid · Freida McFadden
The moment a quiet house becomes the wrong kind of quiet.
Anne feels her scream inside her own head and reverberating off the walls-her scream is everywhere. Then she falls silent and stands in front of the empty crib, rigid, her hand to her mouth. Marco fumbles with the light switch. They both stare at the empty crib where their baby should be. It is impossible that she not be there. There is no way Cora could have gotten out of the crib by herself. She is barely six months old.
The Couple Next Door · Shari Lapena
The quiet moment after the explosion, when a careful man begins tidying himself.
There was an explosion that deafened him; the air was suddenly filled with flying clouds of smoke and dust; he heard the crackle of wood and the pungent scent of something burning. Dazed and stupefied, he stood stock still, gaping up at Mr. Reeder, who was sitting on a stair, picking little splinters of wood from his coat.
Terror Keep · Edgar Wallace
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