[1] In addition to Grisham's typical legal thriller,[2][3][4] the book was also characterized by reviewers as "a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, a family saga, a coming-of-age story,"[3] "a period piece",[3] and a war novel.

Pete's wife Liza has recently been placed in a mental institution; his children Joel and Stella are college students; and his sister Florry is a would-be writer who lives on an adjacent parcel.

Pete refuses the efforts of John Wilbanks, the Banning family's attorney, to request for change of venue or prepare for a plea of temporary insanity.

On the day of his scheduled execution, the governor personally offers to commute Pete's sentence if he will state a reason for having committed the murder - which he stubbornly refuses to do.

Pete and fellow soldier named Clay Wampler join a guerilla force in the Philippine mountains and mount numerous effective attacks on the Japanese.

Liza escapes from the hospital, returns home, has a long talk with Florry, and commits suicide lying atop Pete's grave.

On her deathbed, Florry tells the story of how Liza, thinking Pete was dead in the Philippines, had an impromptu sexual relationship with Jupe, the grandson of two elderly employees on the Banning family farm who were descended from slaves.