A Painted House
A Novel
JG Publishing · Print & ebook · February 3, 2004
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In a tense, poignant novel of a boy awakening to his small town’s secrets, “John Grisham takes command of this literary category just as forcefully as he did legal thrillers with The Firm” (Entertainment Weekly). “You can’t help thinking of other coming-of-age novels from the South: Huckleberry Finn or To Kill a Mockingbird.”—The New York Times Book Review Until that September of 1952, Luke Chandler had never kept a secret or told a single lie.
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- Who it’s for
- Readers interested in coming-of-age stories set in the American South
- Themes
- coming-of-age, family secrets, small town life
- Pacing
- Reflective
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Start with this bookAbout this book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In a tense, poignant novel of a boy awakening to his small town’s secrets, “John Grisham takes command of this literary category just as forcefully as he did legal thrillers with The Firm” (Entertainment Weekly). “You can’t help thinking of other coming-of-age novels from the South: Huckleberry Finn or To Kill a Mockingbird.”—The New York Times Book Review Until that September of 1952, Luke Chandler had never kept a secret or told a single lie.
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But in the long, hot summer of his seventh year, two groups of migrant workers—and two very dangerous men—came through the Arkansas Delta to work the Chandler cotton farm. And suddenly mysteries are flooding Luke’s world. A brutal murder leaves the town seething in gossip and suspicion. A beautiful young woman ignites forbidden passions. A fatherless baby is born . . . and someone has begun furtively painting the bare clapboards of the Chandler farmhouse, slowly, painstakingly, bathing the run-down structure in gleaming white. And as young Luke watches the world around him, he unravels secrets that could shatter lives—and change his family and his town forever.
Who it’s for
- Readers interested in coming-of-age stories set in the American South
- Fans of literary fiction with mystery and family secrets
Where it sits
| Coming-of-Age | 50% |
|---|---|
| 20th-Century Historical Fiction | 40% |
| Southern Fiction | 38% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Literary Fiction
- Suspense
- Coming-of-Age
- Authors
- John Grisham
- Publisher
- JG Publishing
- Published
- February 3, 2004
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- coming-of-age · family secrets · small town life
- Reading lane
- Literary Fiction