Sycamore Row: John Grisham review

Sycamore Row

By: John Grisham
Rating: 3 Star

Sycamore Row is set in the fictional Ford County, Mississippi and is the same setting for the earlier novel by Grisham A Time To Kill.

Sycamore Row focuses on a legal battle over a Will made by a local businessman Seth Hubbard shortly before he kills himself.

Was he in his right mind when he leaves his entire fortune to his housekeeper Lettie Lang?


Jake Brigance is a small town lawyer who is suddenly thrust into the limelight when he receives a handwritten copy of Seth's Will and Testament along with a note asking Jake to defend his Will at all costs.

With $24 Million at stake, suddenly a lot of lawyers descend on the town, hoping that the Will will be declared void so that the fortune can be reallocated across Seth's other relatives.

Sycamore Row is a classic Grisham tale. A lot of the action takes place in the courtroom, and the plot is full of legal fact and discussion that are so common in Grisham's work. I like the fact that Grisham revisited the fictional setting of his previous work so that we get to see the characters a number of years after the Carl Lee Hailey trial.

However, this novel didn't engage as much as other Grisham works have.

Perhaps the subject matter of the Will contest didn't engage me as much as the other dramas that have focused on murder or conspiracy. Perhaps, the overall length was a little long but if you like Grisham's other works, I'd say this one was worth a read as well.