John Grisham - The Last Juror

review on show by Brian lowen 30/9/10
In 1970 one of Mississippi’s more colourful weekly newspapers, The Ford County Times, went bankrupt.

A young reporter on the payroll managed to get a loan from his Grandmother and purchased the paper, complete with a substantial building and printing press.

The story then follows the fortunes of the new 23 year old owner, Willie Traynor, as he struggles to make the paper profitable. The future looks grim until a young single mother is brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie reports all the gruesome details and his paper begins to prosper as circulation rises.

The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courtroom in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a startling and dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. But in Mississippi in 1970, ‘life’ doesn’t necessarily mean life, and nine years later Danny Padgitt manages to get himself paroled. He returns to Clanton and the retribution begins as some of the original jurors start getting shot.
Willie meanwhile has befriended a large black lady who has a family of seven children all who have graduated from university and have made a success of their lives. He visits Miss Callie every Thursday for lunch while he researches her family history and then writes a series of articles in his paper about how well her family has done, quite an achievement in those times when segregation between blacks and whites still existed.
Miss Callie is chosen as one of the jurors in the Padgitt trial – the first black juror, and when Danny is released form jail all her family return to Clanton to protect her from any retribution.

We learn through the story of the tremendous differences that existed in those days - blacks lived on the south side of the railway track in the poorer district. They had their own schools, shops and churches. Some shops and cafes on the north side of the tracks refused to serve blacks, or if they did, they would charge them a higher price.

Then to the consternation of the white population, a law is passed that all schools must be integrated. This is another great story that Willie exploits to his and the newspaper’s great advantage. Due to his courageous reporting Willie is gradually accepted into society in Clanton and becomes a respected citizen.

This is a great story of the deep south of the USA and vividly describes what life was like in those not so far off times, particularly for the black population. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can recommend this book.
review by Brian