Quarter 3
Book 3
In this impossible-to-put-down law analyzing novel, Grisham traps the readers' minds at the very beginning when a ten year old black girl is raped in the Mississippi woods by two white men with criminal records. The father of this girl is thrown in prison after he kills the rapists while they are being led back to their cells after a trial. The novel concentrates on the attorney, Jake Brigance, and his struggle to prove the father, Carl Lee, innocent. The long anticipated verdict of a mostly white jury is that Carl Lee is not guilty. I would have voted that way as well, but i am biased because I read about all of the emotions felt by Carl and Jake. Many feel that if Carl was white he would not have been put on the trial in the first place. This is a fair argument to make because throughout the book the KKK threatens Jake and his assistant, who is hired along the way. Jake's house is set aflame and his assistant is attacked while driving home. Grisham did a great job of incorporating historical elements of the 1980s in the racist south. I loved the book, but some parts in the middle were slow. Each character had their own distict personality. One unique character was Lucien, a retired lawyer who previously owned Jake's office. Jake can rely on this drunken retiree to vent to and provide housing for him when he needs safety.
