In John Grisham’s latest thriller, he neglects his usual courtroom drama in favor of dealing with the appeals process and the related political process. Until now, Grisham’s novels have pretty much gone their separate ways. He has written exciting fiction that keeps you hooked, as well as doing a few more literary novels that convey a theme. In The Appeal, Grisham has combined the best of both, giving us a “fun” novel with a purpose.
The trial is over and the jury has voted in favor of the plaintiff, issuing a multi-million dollar verdict for those affected. The appeal is now in process, headed to the Mississippi Supreme Court. But the owner of the offending chemical plant is convinced that the Court needs to be changed. And so begins a new campaign effort to create a friendlier environment for his case.
Although The Appeal does not have the edge-of-the-seat action of The Firm, The Client, or The Pelican Brief, the reader is still drawn into the tangled web created. And the world Grisham reveals should make everyone think, not just Mississippi voters. Don’t get me wrong: the story is great, the characters believable, etc. But what I think makes The Appeal stand out is that it serves a purpose other than entertainment, while still managing to entertain, something that novels like Bleachers and The Painted House just don’t seem to do well at.
What do we learn from the novel? There are lessons that apply if your state votes for members of the State Supreme Court, and those are the most obvious. But at the heart of it is a question that should affect every registered voter in the United States: How much do campaign finance, ads, and entertainment influence our electoral process, at any stage? I wonder how informed they are of a decision most Americans make when they go to vote. I wonder how many of them bother to verify statements made by one activist about another. What was taken out of context? What was played wrong? How many “mistakes” do we remember, without even noticing the corrections? Personally, I’m the kind of person who checks all my email forwards in Snopes to verify them, but I’m embarrassed to say I don’t do that when it comes to campaigns. You do?
Grisham has timed the release of this novel at a crucial time for Americans: in an election year. And while I’m sure most Americans will continue to go to the polls like thoughtless sheep, I hope some of them will reflect on the lessons learned at The Appeal and make informed decisions this year.
Oh yeah, and the story itself was great too!
