Until that September of 1952, Luke Chandler had never kept a secret or told a single lie. But in the long, hot summer of his seventh year, two groups of migrant workers — and two very dangerous men — came through the Arkansas Delta to work the Chandler cotton farm. And suddenly mysteries are flooding Luke’s world.

A brutal murder leaves the town seething in gossip and suspicion. A beautiful young woman ignites forbidden passions. A fatherless baby is born ... and someone has begun furtively painting the bare clapboards of the Chandler farmhouse, slowly, painstakingly, bathing the run-down structure in gleaming white. And as young Luke watches the world around him, he unravels secrets that could shatter lives — and change his family and his town forever....

I listened to this on audio along time ago, so I thought I'd read it quick before I sent it out. I felt so bad for Luke, a kid that small with all those secrets. What a brave little boy. Quick and easy, I enjoyed it.

Offered and accepted on the Relay.

RELEASE NOTES:

This book arrived in today's post. Thank you for sharing it, three104! I look forward to reading it.

A complex tale, authentic and evocative of time and place: Arkansas' cotton lands in the very early 1950s. Grisham painstakingly creates a large cast of characters that the reader comes to understand with some compassion, whether they are initially "likable" or not. This book is full of descriptive texture but never bogs down in the details. I really enjoyed it. [Added to a book box destined for Iraq].

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