Super Short Summary

In A Painted House by John Grisham, seven-year-old Luke Chandler's life changes when he witnesses a murder by one of the workers on his family's cotton farm in Black Oak, Arkansas, during the 1952 cotton harvest season. As the only witness, Luke struggles with the moral dilemma of telling the truth, risking his family's livelihood, or lying to protect them and faces various personal and social challenges in a tightly-knit, patriarchal community. The novel includes descriptions of sexism, ableism, classism, and racism.