Summary of Sycamore Row

With InstaRead Chapter-by-Chapter Summaries, you can get the essence of a book in 30 minutes or less. We read every chapter and summarize it in one or two paragraphs so you can get the information contained in the book at a faster rate. This is an InstaRead Summary of Sycamore Row by John Grisham. Below is a preview of the earlier sections of the summary: Chapter 1 On a wooded settlement in Clanton, Ford County, the practicalities and implications of Seth Hubbard's hanging are contemplated. He had an aggressive lung cancer and, despite two expensive divorces, he had kept possession of the timber-laden estate left to him by his father. Seth's farm-hand, Calvin Boggs, has been ordered to meet Seth at 2.00pm at an isolated bridge, to which Calvin drives with his young son. Calvin realises that Seth is hanging from a sycamore tree and calls the county sheriff. The deputies mark the area around the tree as a crime scene, but once Calvin is taken to Seth's home he discovers a note left by Seth stating that he has taken his own life and requests that there be no autopsy. Ozzie Wall, a black sheriff, recounts his memories of Seth offering to bankroll his election campaigns in cash, as the coroner and deputies take Seth's body down from the tree. Ozzie decides to further investigate Mr. Hubbard's background. Chapter 2 Jake Brigance wakes at 5.30am to fulfil his routine of getting up, heading the coffee-shop, and then onto his office. He ponders over his static career and weighs up his ambitions to become a great trial lawyer. He recounts that his best case was three years ago in the 'Hailey trial'. However, the victory in court came at the price of his Victorian home being burned down by the Ku Klux Klan and losing the family dog in the fire. Now living in a 'flimsy' house, paid-for by his insurance company, Jake kisses goodbye to his wife and daughter and contemplates the 9mm pistol he now carries in his briefcase. He recalls how only four out of a dozen of the terrorists who were involved in the harassment of Jake, and those around him, have been given sentences. Ozzie Wall keeps a deputy, Louis Tuck, outside of the Brigance home every morning for protection against any possible terrorist threat. At the coffee shop Jake talks to Deputy Marshall Prather about Seth Hubbard and wonders about Hubbard's last will and testament. Dell, the gossiping waitress, lets on that Seth Hubbard was found hanged. Jake then contemplates his rival lawyers as he walks to his office and arrives for 7.00am.