Gray Mountain (2014) By John Grisham

I may have my proverbial “library card” taken away from me for admitting this, but Gray Mountain published last year, and read by me last week, is the first John Grisham book I’ve ever read. Despite the predictability of its plot, add me to his fan club. Gray Mountain is a quick read, because the writing makes you want to turn the page.

The lead character is named Samantha. She’s a career climbing, workaholic attorney specializing in commercial real estate deals at a major Manhattan law firm … and she makes a more than a compensatory salary. But she’s also an aspiring attorney, not a partner, so when the meltdown of the financial markets strikes in 2008, it leaves her and many of her colleagues unemployed. I’m not shedding any tears so far.  

She ends up deciding to ride out the recession by working at a legal aid clinic in Appalachia, as an unpaid intern, but only until she can return to NYC and rejoin Big Law.  

Problem is, she’s never set foot in a courtroom … never tried a case – hasn’t a clue about litigation. In fact, while she’s well versed in multi-million dollar real estate contract deals, she’s never even thought about the legal problems faced by “ordinary” folks like those in Brady, Virginia – the heart of coal mining country. They have issues like divorce, domestic violence, contested black lung disease claims, over-zealous collection firms, housing evictions & foreclosures, and endless other problems that are about day to day survival.

Samantha, city girl, rich girl, is at a loss.

Mattie, the nuts & bolts Attorney who heads the Mountain Legal Aid Clinic, begins to educate her intern. Mattie has seen it all, and while she is cautious and realistic, she’s not particularly afraid of anyone.

Oh yeah, the other plot. Mattie’s nephew is in fact a hotshot litigation attorney – with a personal axe to grind against the coal companies who are strip mining his birthright away, and who he holds responsible for the death of his mother and so many others. He views successful legal settlements or judgments not so much as bank deposits, but as social justice.  

Of course, he ends up dead.

Will Samantha stay in coal country when her internship ends? It’s the crux of the book, never a forgone conclusion, and you aren’t going to know until the final chapter.

Recommendation: Definitely. First, it’s a great book written by a master storyteller. And second, it’s an education on black lung disease, strip mining, jobs versus health, union busting, and how the system is stacked against the little guy, with the near complete collusion of government. Work in a social service agency? If so, this is your book.