Recently I have been very interested in reading fiction books. Don't ask me why, sometimes the desire just strikes me to read, so I do it. :) The first book I read was David Baldacci's "Wish You Well" (a great book by the way), then John Grisham's "A Painted House".  
 
The cover of this book has beautiful colors. The sunset in the cotton fields is reflected off of nearly every boll of cotton on the left hand side. On the right hand side, there is a larger shady area where the sun is not shining. This may be slightly symbolic and revealing about the book's plot (if you use logical deduction and reasoning). To me, the shade in this cotton field represents the many dark secrets held throughout. Each little boll of cotton could be one secret, with the whole field turning out to be hundreds and hundreds of well-kept secrets.  
 
This book is set in the early 1950's on the cottonfields of Arkansas. What else can I say about the plot? Well, one thing's for sure, it takes a HELL of a lot of time to get to the plot. I had to read about 50 pages before I could find out just exactly what the point was. Once I got there, I discovered that an innocent boy by the name of Luke Chandler was the main character. In the early stages of the book, Luke and his father (or grandfather, I can't remember) go out and look for workers to pick the cotton. They look for Mexicans in particular since they are more likely to work for lower wages.  
 
In any case, the beginning stages of the book were like walking in waist-high mud. It was boring, tedious, and dull. I felt like I had to force myself to enjoy the book at this point, which should NEVER be done while reading. The only one funny point I remember at the beginning of the book were Luke's observances of how his grandfather always drove his truck at EXACTLY 37 miles per hour. Interesting, and I did chuckle a few times. But chuckling was rare in this book.  
 
Finally, after going through Hades, I get to some interesting points. Luke meets a woman by the name of "Tally" who he is at least a little attracted to. Luke also meets many other people (mostly people who were hired by his grandfather to work the cottonfields) who either befriend him or show hostility.  
 
I don't wish to reveal much else about the plot because I don't think it is worth mentioning. It's as simple as this. Luke Chandler is a seven year old boy who encounters new people on the cotton farm who either like him or don't like him. Regardless of whether they like him or not, Luke is forced to keep many secrets the workers have told him or made evident to him.  
 
The rest of the story drags on, there are a few murders here and there, with rarely a laugh, if none at all.  
 
The bottom line is this: If you're used to John Grisham's court justice books, DON'T read this one. It's way off-topic compared to his others. If you are interested in a story from the 1950's and cottonfields and the hostility between workers, then you may want to pick this up. I find that the story is just too dull for me, though, and that's why I'm giving it a 2 stars out of 5.  
