sign in| help
Search advanced search
 
Books
Search:
x dismiss this message

Did you know you can edit this page?

A Painted House
  • Rated 0 stars
Read A Painted House

A Painted House (2001) (edit title/settings)

by John Grisham (Author) (edit contributors)

Share this book on:
see page history

Description edit see section history

The hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day. It was a Wednesday, early in September 1952. The Cardinals were five games behind the Dodgers with two weeks to go, and the season looked hopeless. The cotton, however, was waist high to my father, almost over my head, and he and my... read more

Summary edit see section history

The hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day. It was a Wednesday, early in September 1952. The Cardinals were five games behind the Dodgers with three weeks to go, and the season looked hopeless. The cotton, however, was waist-high to my father, over my head, and he and my... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day. It was a Wednesday, early in September 1952. The Cardinals were five games behind the Dodgers with three weeks to go, and the season looked hopeless. The cotton, however, was waist-high to my father, over my head, and he and my grandfather could be heard before supper whispering words that were seldom heard. It could be a “good crop.”

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 finds himself keeping secrets that not only threaten the crop but will change the lives of the Chandlers forever.

A Painted House is a moving story of one boy’s journey from innocence to experience.

Characters edit see section history

  • Luke Chandler: Youngest in the family and the protagonist of the story.
  • Eli "Pappy" Chandler: Luke's highly respected and hard-working grandfather and patriarch of the family. World War I veteran.
  • Ruth "Gran" Chandler: Luke's quiet, conservative, and wise grandmother who prays for the safe return of her younger son, Ricky, from the Korean War.
  • Jesse Chandler: Add a description of this character.
  • Kathleen Chandler: Luke's mother, who tends to the garden while dreaming of a better life in a suburban home with indoor plumbing and modern conveniences.
  • Hank Spruill: The 'hill people' family's oldest son, boastful and quick to offer violence to anyone who offends him.
  • Tally Spruill: The seventeen year-old daughter in the migrant worker family, who lets Luke watch her bathe and runs off with Cowboy.
  • Trot Spruill: The youngest Spruill, who suffers from a crippled arm and begins to paint the Chandler's house. Trot, who is also mentally slow, is the only member of the family next to his older sister Tally, whom Hank is never cruel to.
  • Cowboy: The Mexican who carries a switchblade and is quick to use it.
  • Stick Power: The Black Oak's Chief Police
  • Miguel: The head of the Mexicans who came to Chandler's cotton farm to work.
  • Ricky Chandler: Youngest uncle of Luke, the one that Luke like to hang around the most and he's far away to the Korea War.
  • Jimmy Dale Chandler: Luke's uncle, his father's cousin, who left Black Oak years ago for the North. He's rich and earn a lot of money.
  • Libby Latcher: Oldest girl, 15, of Latcher family, whom, Chandlers always help with food, whom she admitted that she had had given birth to a son of Ricky Chandler.
Show all 14 characters
Popular Covers

Loading covers…

Choose your book’s cover

Quotes edit see section history

  • “The hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day...”
    Narrator

First Sentence edit see section history

The hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 3 of 11 in Publishers Weekly Bestselling Novels In 2001. (authoritative list)

Preceded by Skipping Christmas, and followed by Dreamcatcher.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. John Grisham (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Doubleday
Country: United States
Publication Date: February 6, 2001
ISBN: 978-0307576040
Page Count: 465

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3557.R5355 P3 2001b
  • Dewey: 813.54

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Wish You Well
  • How Green Was My Valley

We’re hiding the glossary entries, themes, errata, awards, books with additional background information, books that influenced this book, books influenced by this book, books that cite this book and books cited by this book sections. If you would like to add content to them, you must first make them visible.

© 2006-2012 Shelfari | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy

Close