Until that September of 1952, Luke Chandler had never kept a secret or told a single lie. But in the long, hot summer of his seventh year, two groups of migrant workers—and two very dangerous men—came through the Arkansas Delta to work the Chandler cotton farm. And suddenly mysteries are flooding Luke's world. A brutal murder leaves the town seething in gossip and suspicion. A beautiful young woman ignites forbidden passions. A fatherless baby is born...and some has begun furtively painting the bare clapboards of the Chandler farmhouse, slowly, painstakingly, bathing the run-down structure in gleaming white. And as young Luke watches the world around him, he unravels secrets that could shatter lives—and change his family and his town forever...

A Painted House is a novel by American author John Grisham, published on February 6, 2001. Seven-year-old Luke Chandler is witness to many atrocities in the fall of 1952 as his struggling family of cotton farmers works hard to earn enough to pay their debts. The novel portrays the experiences that bring this child from a world of innocence into one of reality. An interesting novel that portrays the life of a Southern farmer very well, A Painted House has found much acclaim within the literary community.