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A Painted House
- Narrated by: David Lansbury
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
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A Painted House
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Summary
The hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day. It was a Wednesday, early in September, 1952. The Cardinals were five games behind the Dodgers with three weeks to go, and the season looked hopeless.
The cotton, however, was waist-high to my father, over my head, and he and my grandfather could be heard before supper whispering words that were seldom heard. It could be a "good crop".
Thus begins the new novel from John Grisham, a story inspired by his own childhood in rural Arkansas. The narrator is a farm boy named Luke Chandler, age seven, who lives in the cotton fields with his parents and grandparents in a little house that's never been painted. The Chandlers farm 80 acres that they rent, not own, and when the cotton is ready they hire a truckload of Mexicans and a family from the Ozarks to help harvest it.
For six weeks they pick cotton, battling the heat, the rain, the fatigue, and, sometimes, one another. As the weeks pass Luke sees and hears things no seven-year-old could possibly be prepared for, and finds himself keeping secrets that not only threaten the crop but will change the lives of the Chandlers forever.
A Painted House is a moving story of one boy's journey from innocence to experience.
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What listeners say about A Painted House
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dolly McLaughlin
- 03-11-19
Beautiful book. A peek at 1950 s farming life USA
All through the eyes of a small boy and the secrets he had to keep. Brilliant. My first Grisham novel. Will I like the others? They look different. Took a while to adjust to the narrator. All in all he did a good job though. Highly recommended.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 14-02-22
Perfect
A beautiful book, painting a vivid picture of a way of life in 1950s Arkansas. There is a murder, but this is a very un-Grisham book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- paul hines
- 13-01-23
you gotta love john grisham.
A master at work, beautiful story and from a 7 year old boys mouth, still made it one of his best stories
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ginger
- 01-05-18
A vivid account
John Grisham made this account of rural life in the 1950s in Arkansas as gripping as his other novels. A good story and an education in other lives in other times
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David C.
- 02-12-15
Great writer with great characters
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes. Grisham is one of few great modern writers who maintains quality writing with many varied themes. Not just legal jurist themes but baseball, Italy or in this case a poor cotton farming family struggling through the picking season, divergent migrant and local hired hands and family differences. Many modern writers seem to get lazy with their success in writing-following old themes, well worn characters and shorter novels
What other book might you compare A Painted House to, and why?
Grapes of Wrath. Patiently builds characters of interest and depth to whom you have a genuine sympathy
Which character – as performed by David Lansbury – was your favourite?
The boy protagonist
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No - too big and rich-enjoyed coming back to it like an old friend
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Seayeaitch
- 22-02-21
This will become a Classic!
John Grisham has a fine ability and talent when it comes to writing but this simple tale of “A Painted House” is Grisham at his best. A beautifully crafted story about life on a cotton farm, and the long and arduous harvest, David Lansbury provides narration that helps to bring to life each of the many characters, a charming story that will transport you to another time and remind you of how our fore fathers toiled on the land.
Superbly presented.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 06-10-20
Nice easy but engaging
Story is very well written and read, quite engaging but at the same time does not feel overwhelming.
Story it self is quite interesting and feels believable, emotions of the narrator who is a 7 year old boy are well expressed and translated to make it relevant to us the readers.
Do recommend!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Stephen
- 01-02-19
Superb story, brilliant performance!
I read this book a few years back and absolutely loved it. I was worried the imagery and characters would seem different when read by someone else.
I needn't have worried, this is a rich and warm performance of one of my favourite John Grisham stories....absolutely brilliant!
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Zippy
- 13-10-20
A time consuming ramble
went on and on and didn't get anywhere. Love JG but this was just a ramble. Not his best work
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- John McGee
- 23-11-23
Dragged a bit like paint drying
This book got off to a great start, with a realistic view of life in the Southern cotton fields during the Korean War. However, I felt that the story began to drag like the slow Southern drawl of the narrator and time went as slow as the long, hot sticky days in the cotton fields, interspersed with little action and thunderstorms. Not quite the book for me and definitely not the best John Grisham story I've read.
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