Sparring Partners by John GrishamMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
While I enjoyed all three of the short novellas in this collection, for me this was not one of his best books. It was not because they weren't courtroom thrillers but mainly because they were too short and without enough detail about the characters to make me care.
The first story Homecoming is set in Clanton, Mississippi where a lawyer, Jake Brigance, is tasked with the job of easing an old friend back into the community. This man had committed fraud in various ways but wants to be reunited with his family as if all is well. But it is not all well and several people are after his friend. I did find the events and incidents involving his bitter daughter quite real however, and sympathised with her.
The prisoner on death row in Strawberry Moon is said to be the youngest ever facing execution, and his most loyal correspondent, during all his time locked away, gets to meet him face to face at last. It is Cody’s final few days and Grisham’s description of their conversation is outstanding – by far the best piece of writing in the whole book. Strawberry Moon was definitely the most moving and poignant and I was even emotionally touched by Cody the man about to be executed for the crime of murder.
Sparring Partners was a quite complicated tale about two brothers who despised each other. They are lawyers who run a legal company following the imprisonment of their father, Bolton Molloy, who was found guilty for the murder of his wife. Much of the story is about the family feuding and includes Diantha struggling to referee the various issues and battles between them all. She finds the whole thing distasteful and tiring but is determined to come out on top in the end. The plot hatched by Bolton involving a bribe to a friendly politician, to get him out of prison through granting him a pardon, had some similarities to the recent publicity about a previous US president’s difficulties.
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