John Grisham's Sycamore Row - Review

Sycamore Row by John Grisham

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A powerful sequel to the classic legal thriller ‘A Time to Kill’.

Seth Hubbard, terminally ill, hangs himself from a sycamore tree on his expansive property. His suicide triggers his carefully planned final wishes – a hasty funeral and the terms of his recently written last will, which disinherits his greedy, white family and leaves his fortune to his black housekeeper, Lettie Lang.

Jake Brigance has been appointed attorney for the estate as part of the decedent's final wishes. Though they never met, he claims Jake is the only lawyer he can trust, based on his reputation for fighting for justice against the tide of societal discrimination and corruption, and charges him to defend his final will and testament at all costs.

But Seth’s family refuse to accept the validity of the will and contest it. Once again, Clanton becomes the epicentre of a legal battle that is as much about race as it is about the law, vultures circling and flocking to claim a piece of the fortune.

John Grisham’s debut novel ‘A Time to Kill’ remains one of his most powerful novels, a modern classic of legal and crime fiction, and a fable about prejudice and moral justice. Many years later, Grisham has returned to the central character of Jake Brigance in ‘Sycamore Row’ – an immersive and captivating legal thriller; this time the central case a civil, rather than criminal, trial. The novel’s themes of racial prejudice, the shades of grey in which the law and morality may differ, and a fight for justice are deftly handled and superbly laced through its gripping, fast-paced plot. Building to an intense and dramatic climax, the case hinges on a dark family secret that may just unlock Seth’s motivations for his final actions.

Brimming with an array of well-drawn characters, with many returning from its predecessor, the novel demonstrates how a dark chapter in human history continues to leak into our modern society – its powerful and moving message timely and crucial. Through the setting of a small town, we see prejudice and attitudes that are mirrored all around the globe; in many ways as potent today as it ever has been in the past.

While ‘Sycamore Row’ can be enjoyed as a self-contained story, it references many of the events of ‘A Time to Kill’ – so I would highly recommend starting with the first novel (or alternatively watching the brilliant, and mostly faithful, film adaptation). Jake and his family make for endearing characters and the overarching themes shared by both novels make this a superlative series – one that continues in Grisham’s recent novel, ‘A Time for Mercy’.

Packed with legal wrangling and courtroom drama, fraught with poignant and tragic moments, ‘Sycamore Row’ is an emotive and enthralling thriller and a worthy successor to a masterpiece.



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