‘I didn’t like it’: John Grisham on how he fixed his novel ‘The Widow’

It’s been four decades since John Grisham was a small-town Mississippi lawyer, but that experience continues to provide material for his bestselling novels.

That was true of his first, “A Time to Kill,” published in 1989, and it’s true of his latest, “The Widow,” which he’ll discuss at the Minnesota Star Tribune and MPR News’ Talking Volumes Oct. 23. In it, lawyer Simon Latch stumbles into what may be a golden opportunity or a career-ender: An elderly woman wants help with a will, claiming she has millions of dollars socked away. But is she telling the truth? And will her family learn of the secret wealth?

“I never had a wealthy client come in for a will and surprise me with his or her net worth,” said Grisham, 70, by phone from his Virginia home (his drawl remains pure Mississippi). “But I was always curious what would happen if suddenly you had a client with no family, no connections in the world, no friends, and she needed your help. And she needed your advice. What would that do to a struggling small-town lawyer? Probably make him think about doing the wrong thing.”

Latch thinks a lot about doing the wrong thing and, when the widow dies, is accused of hastening her death. He must prove his innocence in “The Widow” and try to figure out who, if anyone, contributed to his client’s demise.

Grisham will talk about his “not-very-lucrative” legal career, his real-life work with the Innocence Project and his trouble nailing the ending of “The Widow” with Kerri Miller at St. Paul’s Fitzgerald Theater on Oct. 23. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

Q: So many of your books were inspired by your time as a lawyer. Did you keep a journal that you refer to when you start a new book?

A: More of a recall. When you practice law, like I did, and you see a lot of different cases, there’s a lot of time in the courtroom with other lawyers and judges. There were two murder trials I handled, many types of cases. It stuck with me. And, as you might guess, I have a fertile, hyperactive imagination.

A: That was a direct result of something I saw in a courtroom one day when I was 30 years old. I never thought about being a writer, but I saw this very dramatic trial and it inspired this idea for a courtroom book. I became obsessed with it and finally decided to try and write it. It took me three years and got me started on this more pleasant career I have now.

Q: Another attorney, Scott Turow, published the bestseller “Presumed Innocent,” a couple years before you. Do you ever think about the fact that you two kick-started a genre that so many others have hopped on?

A: Scott and I have laughed about it. We’re pretty good friends. I’ll tell you what happened. In 1987, Scott published “Presumed Innocent.” Before Scott, there had been lawyers who were writers. I can’t name them now, but no one was nearly as successful as Scott. The book was huge. Big movie. Made him a huge star. At that time, I was trying to finish my first novel, and I had been at it for three years. I never wanted to give up but I was often frustrated.

Q: His book helped you?

A: It really electrified the genre of the legal thriller, the courtroom drama. It inspired me to finish what became “A Time to Kill” and that led to the next book, “The Firm.” The rest is history. Scott Turow was very much a crucial part of inspiring me to finish “A Time to Kill.”

A: I’ve read all of Scott’s books. David Baldacci is a buddy who also lives in Virginia. But lawyers are not very good writers, generally. They’re very good storytellers but they usually fall flat as writers because, when it comes to fiction and telling a story, they get slowed down with the details. They tend to want to impress the reader with how much they know about the law, and you can’t really do that in the context of a suspense novel. I’ve read a lot of legal thrillers that weren’t thrilling.

Q: What was the trickiest part of getting “The Widow” right?

A: I had a big problem with the ending, which is unusual for me. I always know the ending before I start a book. I take a lot of time to outline the story and to really plot through the story before I start writing. I have these rules of writing proper fiction and that’s one: Do not write the first scene until you know the last scene.

Q: But you’re a rule-breaker?

A: It was a unique experience for me. When I got to the end, I didn’t like it. My wife really didn’t like it. My agent, who is also my editor for 35 years, didn’t like it. So I said, “I’ll keep writing.” Now, the last quarter of the book is a whole new, major plot.

A: Oh, it was all screwed up. It was a bad idea all the way through, and I was able to fix it. I was desperate in January to finish it, to make it plausible.

Q: Because the book does such a balancing act with Simon, we’re never sure if he might have crossed the line or not. It almost makes “The Widow” a whodunit, as well as a legal thriller.

A: I wanted Simon to be human and vulnerable and even a little dislikable because he got greedy. The goal was to write a whodunit, or a did-he-do-it. Actually, “Presumed Innocent” is a famous case of a did-he-do-it. He’s charged with the crime and he goes on trial and the question is whether he did it and, if not, whodunit? I’ve never done that before in a book, and I love mysteries.

Q: Have you been to the Twin Cities?

A: For one of my best trips ever! 2019, the Final Four. Virginia, where we live and where we go to all the home games, made it to the Final Four and won the national title. We obviously enjoyed the tournament, and we thoroughly enjoyed the city.

“I can trust you, right, Mr. Latch?”

“Of course. I’m your lawyer, duty bound to keep everything confidential.” Simon noticed a slight flutter in his intestines, as if some truly wonderful and unexpected facts might be in the works. He’d had a few surprises in the past eighteen years as a pseudo estate lawyer, but nothing significant.

“Well, you see Mr. Latch –”

“Please call me Simon.”

“Simon, what a nice name. You see, Simon, Harry worked for almost forty years as a district sales rep for Coca-Cola. I think that’s what killed him. He got his blood sugar up, had a stroke at sixty-nine, never recovered. We always had plenty of Coke, the real thing, not diet, in the fridge and he drank too many, at least in my opinion. Anyway, he qualified for stock options, a few at a time, and he bought every share of Coke he could get his hands on. Never sold a share, just enjoyed watching it pile up. And boy did it. Then about thirty years ago, he began selling Coke products to Wal-Mart and became fascinated with the company. It was selling a lot of soft drinks. Harry began buying stock in Wal-Mart and he never sold a share. When he died suddenly, he was wondering what to do with all that stock. He didn’t want to leave it to his boys, because they were nothing but trouble. Still are. And here’s the thing, Simon, the boys don’t know about the stock. Harry never told them, never told anyone but me. He thought it was funny that we lived quietly in our modest little home and no one knew we were worth millions.”

Talking Volumes with John Grisham

Who: Sponsored by the Minnesota Star Tribune and MPR News.

When: 7 p.m. Oct. 23.

Where: Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul.