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A review by alidottie
Gray Mountain by John Grisham
3.0
I decided to review Grisham's latest novel for my assisted living book group. It caught my interest when I read that it was about a NYC lawyer during the banking crisis of the late 2000's who goes to do legal aid work in Appalachia. Appalachia has interested me since I read Christy (by Catherine Marshall--I highly recommend) and then when I saw a special Idol Gives Back segment where American Idol raised money for charities including one that brought books to Appalachia. The statistics were unbelievable for number of books in the community per person (like one book for every 300). Anyway, I am amazed that the poverty in Appalachia and in inner cities exists in the USA, but I think it is more shocking in the gorgeous natural beauty of Appalachia.
Anyway, this book is a mini-education on coal strip mining and what it is doing to this beautiful landscape. How it is destroying land and water and people. I found that part of the book 4+ stars, but I felt like this book opened a lot of stories and ended none as if all we cared about was Samantha Kofer, the main character. In the end, I found that and the fact that Samantha treats intimacy like something that means nothing (I wonder how many women would write a female character like that--or am I just ignorant at how hardened woman today have become?) made me care less for the book.
Anyway, this book is a mini-education on coal strip mining and what it is doing to this beautiful landscape. How it is destroying land and water and people. I found that part of the book 4+ stars, but I felt like this book opened a lot of stories and ended none as if all we cared about was Samantha Kofer, the main character. In the end, I found that and the fact that Samantha treats intimacy like something that means nothing (I wonder how many women would write a female character like that--or am I just ignorant at how hardened woman today have become?) made me care less for the book.