'A Painted House' is the first non-courtroom based Grisham novel that I have read and it left me thinking that maybe another one is not the best idea.

We follow Luke a seven year old cotton picker who lives with his poor family on a farm in Arkansas in the 1950s. Rather than being interested in only sweets and fighting it seems Luke gets involved with everything that happens in the town that summer. He is witness to murder, fights, affairs and many other things.

It is this overfilling of the story and Grisham's stubbiness to stick to the first person that makes this book flawed. How could a seven year old become so involved and articulate themselves in such a way as to create a coherent narrative of their summer?

Apart from this major flaw the story itself is light but fun. A lot does happen but Grisham handles the description of events well and we do get a feel for how hard the life of people must have been in that situation. However, due to the poor narrative style this book is limited to an average score. I much prefer Grisham's court based dramas and in particular 'A Time to Kill'.