Grisham has described the book as "very autobiographical" in that the novel's "young attorney is basically me" and the drama is based on a case he witnessed.
[2] In 1984 Grisham witnessed the harrowing testimony of a 12-year-old rape victim at the DeSoto County courthouse in
Hernando, Mississippi.
[3] Two sisters, Julie Scott, 16 years old, and Marcie Scott, her twelve-year-old sister, had both been raped, brutally beaten, and nearly murdered by Willie James Harris.
[4] Unlike Grisham's depiction, however, the Scotts were white and their assailant was black.*[5]
According to Grisham's official website, Grisham used his spare time to begin his first novel, which "explored what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her assailants."
[3] He spent three years on
A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. Grisham was a member of the
Mississippi House of Representatives when he wrote the book, and much of it was written while he was staying at the
Sun-n-Sand Motor Hotel in
Jackson, Mississippi, a popular lodging establishment for state legislators.
[6][7]
Grisham has also cited
Harper Lee's
To Kill a Mockingbird** as an influence.[
citation needed] Another stated inspiration was the success of
Presumed Innocent.
[8]
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