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    Sycamore Row
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    Sycamore Row
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    Sycamore Row
    Audiobook (abridged)7 hours

    Sycamore Row

    Written by John Grisham

    Narrated by Michael Beck

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    John Grisham takes you back to where it all began . . .

    John Grisham's A Time to Kill is one of the most popular novels of our time. Now we return to that famous courthouse in Clanton as Jake Brigance once again finds himself embroiled in a fiercely controversial trial-a trial that will expose old racial tensions and force Ford County to confront its tortured history.

    Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier.

    The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly? And what does it all have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row?

    In Sycamore Row, John Grisham returns to the setting and the compelling characters that first established him as America's favorite storyteller. Here, in his most assured and thrilling novel yet, is a powerful testament to the fact that Grisham remains the master of the legal thriller, nearly twenty-five years after the publication of A Time to Kill.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateOct 22, 2013
    ISBN9780385366465
    Unavailable
    Sycamore Row

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    Reviews for Sycamore Row

    4/5

    952 ratings92 reviews

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    • 3/5
      It's a bit slow to start, but after a while, the plot does pick up. A rich white man with cancer commits suicide and leaves a handwritten will that names Jake Brigance as the lawyer for his estate and that leaves the majority of his estate to his African American housekeeper. Of course, his children, who have been left out of his handwritten will, contest it. Since it's a Grisham book, you figure Jake will prevail, but you're just not sure how. The trial occurs in the last third of the book and seems to seesaw back and forth as to who will prevail. In the end, I was surprised that Doley, a juror, sided with everyone else on all the points. I admire Jake's desire to do what Seth Hubbard's letter to him instructed him to do. He could have discussed settlement and divided up the estate between the beneficiaries of the old and new wills.I was confused as to why Seth Hubbard didn't just give his housekeeper a gift outright before he died. Perhaps he felt his kids would go after her, the way his father once went after her grandfather, to get what they wanted from her. Perhaps he knew she wouldn't accept it from him face to face. Perhaps there are more taxes involved in gifts than there are in inheritances. I was also confused as to why Seth didn't just go to Jake and have Jake make a new will for him rather than doing a handwritten one. Maybe he just wanted to see his kids suffer more by having to pay additional fees . . . though they still could have contested it even if a lawyer had drawn up the new will I guess. But maybe then, we wouldn't have had a book . . .
    • 4/5
      John Grisham has a well-deserved reputation for writing terrific legal thrillers. This is yet another example of a densely plotted description of a legal fight. In this case, it's a contest over a hand-written will that accurately reflects the way the law actually works. Thoroughly enjoyable.
    • 3/5
      This is a difficult book to rate. I enjoyed the characters and I enjoyed the legal back and forth. I enjoyed the history and culture of the South. However, looking back on the story, it took forever to move along, and the big "twist" toward the end was not really a "twist" and was not something that could be seen coming at all. It made sense in many ways, but it did not make me pause and say "wow" by any means. Overall I enjoy Grisham, but this novel did not remind me of the fast paced novels from earlier in his career.
    • 5/5
      I stopped reading Grisham's books after the first four because I didn't like the direction he was taking. "A Time To Kill" was always my favorite. This is an exceptional follow-up. I was enthralled and read it within a day of starting it. Check it out!
    • 2/5
      I could get away with reading the first and last two chapters, everything else a cacophony of attorney bickering, race stereotyping and jury melodrama. Many references to Time to Kill; risks a repetitive and tired formula.
    • 5/5
      Book DescriptionJohn Grisham takes you back to where it all began . . .John Grisham's A Time to Kill is one of the most popular novels of our time. Now we return to that famous courthouse in Clanton as Jake Brigance once again finds himself embroiled in a fiercely controversial trial-a trial that will expose old racial tensions and force Ford County to confront its tortured history.Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier.The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly? And what does it all have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row?In Sycamore Row, John Grisham returns to the setting and the compelling characters that first established him as America's favorite storyteller. Here, in his most assured and thrilling novel yet, is a powerful testament to the fact that Grisham remains the master of the legal thriller, nearly twenty-five years after the publication of A Time to Kill.My ReviewI listened to the book on audio and found the reader to be very easy to listen to. This book is a follow-up on Jake Brigance from A Time To Kill. Jake is a very likable lawyer and I was glad to find out how he was doing after his last case. This book is not a continuation of his Carl Lee story but a new case of Seth Hubbard who commits suicide and leaves most of his $24 million dollars to his housemaid and not his direct family. This plot was a real page turner until the very end as they come to understand why Seth Hubbard did this. All the characters are well drawn and quite interesting. If you are a fan of A Time To Kill, I'm sure you will enjoy this one too. I would recommend this book to those who love lawyer mysteries from the old south. I look forward to reading another Grisham book very soon.
    • 4/5
      Sycamore Row brinks back many of the same characters from A Time To Kill. This time the plot evolves around the suicide of Seth Hubbard and the legal battle over his handwritten will that was made the day before he died. The ending was not what I expected. This is a very good read.
    • 4/5
      Grisham is back on top form in this gripping sequel to A Time to Kill. As ever, he manages to take what may seem to be a fairly dull legal topic, such as probate, and place it at the centre of a dynamic courtroom drama. The characters from A Time to Kill are back: in my head, I couldn't get Donald Sutherland out of my head, playing Lucien, Jack Brigance's former partner. Thoroughly recommended read for Grisham fans, and definitely the best of his output for a while.
    • 4/5
      It's been a while since I read anything by Grisham but at one time I used to devour his books. His courtroom dramas are some of the best I have ever read, probably because he is a former trial lawyer.The case in this book is a wills and estates battle. The day before Seth Hubbard hung himself he wrote out a new will leaving ninety percent of his estate to his black housekeeper, Letty Long. He mailed the will and his instructions to small town lawyer Jake Brigance. He explicitly revoked his previous will which had left the bulk of his estate to his two children and their children. He told Jake that he wanted him to act as the lawyer for the estate and to pursue the validation of the handwritten will with all his might. Seth was a wealthy man; his estate was over twenty million dollars so you know his children are going to contest the will. Lawyers are falling all over themselves to represent the possible beneficiaries. No-one, including Letty, knows why he left such a staggering amount to her. The children suggest that Letty was sleeping with Seth and unduly influenced him to change his will. Jake doesn't think that was the case and there is no hard evidence that Seth was of unsound mind at the time of writing the will so he pursues the case with all the vigour he can bring to bear. He is just a small town lawyer but he has some good friends who help him with the case. Those friends are quite the characters and part of the charm of this book. I predict that you will be hooked from the beginning just as I was.
    • 4/5
      rabck from fathermurphy; Good book about a suicide, and the business man leaves everything to his black housekeeper, instead of his estranged kids. But why? And can Jake Brigance defend the hand written will against the slick city attorney's that the kids have hired? Interesting premise with a twist at the very end that explains why Seth Hubbard did what he did.
    • 4/5
      Very good book
    • 5/5
      In my opinion no one holds a candle to Grisham when it comes to writing a great legal thriller.
    • 4/5
      It's funny how books come to you sometimes. I haven't read a John Grisham novel in 20 years (The Chamber) but then Leonard Maltin recommended on his new movie podcast that I re-watch A Time to Kill. I did, and ended up ordering Sycamore Row as the credits rolled. So, of course, it was Matthew McConaughey as Jake Brigance in my mind's eye as I read this sequel. This was a good story, and reading a Grisham novel after all those years was like slipping on a warm and fluffy pair of slippers. I'm now practicing law so I truly enjoyed the primer on wills and estates and the old and new characters were engaging. I didn't know for certain how this one would all work itself out, but it ultimately did so in a satisfying way. I can't remember if all Grisham novels are as packed with legal procedure and explanations as this one is but I suspect that might be why some readers found this novel to be a bit slow and/or boring. Not so for me. I recommend that you re-watch A Time to Kill to catch up on the original Jake Brigance story which is referenced a number of times in this new one, and then settle in for another good - but not too taxing - Grisham tale ripped from the legal headlines.
    • 3/5
      good story and good characters and great ending where everyone is happy with outcome of a rich southerner leaving his whole $24M estate to his maid/caretaker of 3 years instead of his son and daughter. contrives as usual for grisham but good nonetheless
    • 4/5
      John Grisham's Sycamore Row is an engaging thriller with a small town Southern lawyer (actually quite of few of them)fighting to have a handwritten will accepted as the last will and testament of reclusive Seth Hubbard. Jake Brigance is the young attorney with his second jury trail where race is an issue. Set in Mississippi in the late 1980's, Hubbard's black housekeeper, Lettie Lang, becomes the sole beneficiary after his suicide. The handwritten will cuts out the children and grand children of Hubbard. the big question is why Hubbard would do such a thing. This novel has stories within stories, along with hidden truths and lost truths which ultimately come to light. The detail is exquisite, the characters alive and the story a page turner, making Sycamore Row one you'll want to read.
    • 4/5
      He just plain writes good procedurals. It was good to find out how Jake and his family have been doing. A true Southern novel -- the past is never gone, never forgotten, never lets go.
    • 4/5
      Jake Brigance, the hero of Grisham's best seller A Time to Kill is back. The setting is still Ford County, Mississippi, which has the charm of a small Southern neighborhood, but also much of the deep seated racism of the South. Wealthy businessman, Seth Hubbard is dying of cancer. Rather than waiting for his inevitable death, he takes matters into his own hands and hangs himself, but not before leaving a handwritten will that leaves all of his very significant estate to his black housekeeper. With so much money at stake, lawyers flock to Ford County to begin a heated courtroom battle over the validity of the will. But the question that must be solved is why would Seth leave millions of dollars to a woman he barely knows, leaving nothing to his children.As with all of Grisham's novels, there is good suspense with lots of courtroom drama. What I enjoyed about this book is its portrayal of the South, and the guilt we all feel for crimes committed by past generations.
    • 5/5
      I used to read everything that John Grisham wrote, but a few years ago, the plots started to run together a bit. However, A Time to Kill was one of my favorites. So when I saw that Jake Brigance, the young lawyer who took on a difficult murder case in A Time to Kill, was back for a repeat appearance, I decided to give Sycamore Row a try. This time, Brigance gets pulled into a will contest in which a wealthy white man cuts his family out of his will and leaves 90% of his estate to a black housekeeper. The case itself is interesting, and Brigance is again both clever and charming. Together this kept the pages turning until the end. This isn't great literature, but it was a great choice for a long flight and the craziness of summer vacation.
    • 5/5
      A white man's will leaves his estate to his African American housekeeper of three years. A trial establishing the authenticity of the will ensues. This is such a good Grisham. I could not put it down. Probably as good as The Firm.
    • 4/5
      An excellent read but I guessed the ending too soon in the book! That said, the story line was a great standard and the way all characters intertwined in the plot was perfect.
    • 4/5
      You could take a vacation for a few years and when you came back there would be John Grisham with a new novel. He is indefatigable and something of an addiction. Proudly old-fashioned, he creates three-dimensional characters and a rich setting. As one of the blurbs puts it, he is a great story teller. In this work, the motivating factor--at least on the surface--is greed. A father passes, and in his newest will he specifically excludes all in his family choosing to enrich instead an African-American woman who served as his caretaker in the last years of his life. In Mississippi, favoring a Black woman over kin in a will is tantamount to mental illness; he couldn't have been in his right mind and therefore the will must be held invalid. It is up to the hero--with his own doubts about the dead man's motivation--to defend the will in court against the waves of venal and immoral attorneys who seek to overturn the dead man's last wishes. Who will prevail and why? There are slow sections of the book where the reader learns about Mississippi customs and food preferences, but somehow, Grisham holds his audience until the conclusion of the exciting trial. Grisham seems to be as reliable as the sun rising in the morning and as satisfying as a beautiful sunset.
    • 5/5
      Classic Grisham, taut, well written mystery. One of his better works
    • 4/5
      'Sycamore Row' is the latest novel from the prolific John Grisham, and it is also the sequal to A Time to Kill starring small town lawyer Jake Brigance. This courtroom drama is set in Mississippi in 1988, three years after events in 'A Time to Kill' (Grisham's first novel), and again race relations and prejudice are at the centre of the story. In this story wealthy businessman Seth Hubbard rewrites his will shortly before taking his own life, a decision heavily influenced by his advancing cancer. This will leaves the bulk of his estate to Lettie Lang, his black housekeeper, much to the ire of his relatives and surprise of everyone else. Thus ensues a courtroom challenge to the will, central to the challenge of the relatives being Seth's 'testamentary capacity' and the possible 'undue influence' of Lettie Lang. Jake of course has been charged with defending the last will by Hubbard in a letter sent before his death, and while its defence looks a relatively straightforward task initially, events unfold which threaten to tear down the defence and see the will put aside in favour of an earlier version. Meanwhile also a search ensues for Seth's long lost brother, himself due to inherit in the new will and who also is the only link with the past, a past which may or may not have a bearing on events of the present. A certain humour is introduced by Grisham in the manner in which he deals with Seth's relatives and their supposed new found love for their Uncle Seth, a love which was not very evident when he was alive. How the possibility of inherited wealth can sway the hearts of so many! The courtroom element of this novel is its strongest aspect, which by and large covers most of the book! So yes, I enjoyed this, as I usually do Grisham's novels. The ending too is quite strong, something I can't say about a number of Grisham's other novels. The only gripe I might have is the character of Jake himself, too clean, too nice, no faults to list or complicate him as a character. I guess it makes the book ripe for another film blockbuster like 'A Time to Kill' became, starring as it did Matthew McConaughey. I just about give this four stars out of five, which I did to his previous 'The Racketeer', but 'The Racketeer' I can definitely say I did prefer.
    • 4/5
      A sequel to A Time to Kill in the sense that it features the same attorney, Jake Brigance. Set in a small Mississippi town, Sycamore Row has the feel of Faulkner all lawyered up.Seth Hubbard hangs himself from a sycamore tree. Dying from lung cancer, he didn't have long to live anyway. As the body was being cut down, a package arrives at the office of celebrated attorney Jake Brigance. It contains a hand-written will specifically cuts out most of his family and gives the bulk of his estate to his housekeeper/caregiver, Letty Lang. When the scope of this estate is discovered, it would make Letty the richest black woman in the state. Set in the late '80's, this is sure to rub people the wrong way.What follows is the long legal process leading up to trial. Jake, who had never met Seth, is charged with fighting to the bitter end by a letter accompanying the will. He has to prove that Seth was in sound mind when he wrote the will, and not, say, under the influence of his caregiver. Meanwhile, Seth's children have an earlier will that bequeath them everything. Their attorneys are trying to prove Seth was not in complete self-control when the will is written. Already the talk of Ford County, the court proceedings unleash unlikely drama as the judge allows some unlikely events (such as unnamed witnesses to testify) that sway the jury this way and that. It'll make an entertaining movie if they choose to film this book as well. The outcome also wraps things up too nicely; in the real world, the legal fight would continue for years (the part I have a particular problem with is too much of a spoiler to list here). It is still a very well-written story and fans of Grisham's legal dramas ought to enjoy this one.The drama proceeds at a pace in keeping with lengthy legal processes but is never boring. The courtroom drama becomes a circus due to some unlikely decisions by the judge that
    • 4/5
      It had been a long time since I read a Grisham book that I really enjoyed and after reading Sycamore Row, I remembered what I liked about his books - deep and heavy storylines told in an easy, straightforward manner with likeable characters with just enough detail to keep things interesting but, not enough that you get bogged down in it. Sycamore Row brings back this style seen in Mr. Grisham's earlier books.
    • 5/5
      This is the 22nd book of John Grisham's I've read. Of those I have given 5 only one star. I am often dismayed by things about his books. This book did have disturbing things in it. I was bothered by the blatant behavior of the judge in talking to to the lawyer ex parte. I know this is often done in the real world but it is especially annoying when presented as if the judge was doing the right thing in helping the lawyer unethically. As I was once told by a lawyer, in his district not talking to the judge behind the back of opposing counsel would be legal malpractice. But it should be deplored since it is unethical and indefensible. There are other things in this book which are very unlikely, and some of the book, even to a lawyer, was boring. But the last part of the book is highly engaging and I confess I was eager to keep reading to see what would happen as Jake Brigance (the hero of Grisham's great book, A Time to Kill,) is defending a holographic will written by a guy who committed suicide the day after he wrote his will. A lot of the legal happenings are realistic and accurate, though I was surprised by the way strikes were exercised in picking the jury--but maybe that is how a jury is picked in Mississippi--I don't know. Pretty clearly the verdict in the case would not have stood up on appeal, as the judge well knew. But the book is clearly one of the better books Grisham has written and I enjoyed reading it very much.
    • 4/5
      Good but not his best. Jake defends the will of a man who has left his inheritance to his black housekeeper. Ultimately it is revealed that his wealth is at least in part gained because of land that his father has stolen from her grandfather, who the father has had killed. It got bogged down in the trial and pre-trial and some of the description could have been omitted.
    • 5/5
      It's a delight to be able to give a high rating again, not five stars, but as close as possible. Sycamore Row was a wonderful tale, with wonderful characters and suspense. Everyone knew what the ending would be, but it was fun watching it happen. I was surprised to find a continuity mistake early in the book, not that it changed much, but I was still surprised. I also found the court room drama a tad excessive but what do you expect from a lawyer author. A wonderful read that I really did have a hard time putting down.
    • 4/5
      Sycamore Row by John GrishamAttorney has been hired. Seth is dying and has left a hand written will then hangs himself from the tree. There were other wills over the years and the children and other family members have been written out of the will. There will be a huge trial as a judge and jury decidewhat to do with the man's estate. They are finding out he was very wealthy.Interesting to learn how things are dictated from the grave and what the court system does with it all....and all the testimony they are able to obtain...Loved hearing about the old times and what constitutes a 'row'.I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
    • 5/5
      Brilliant, John Grisham wrote a masterpiece with this novel, the characters and the story line travels you through this part of our American culture, leaving you breathless.