Childhood trauma is a significant component of Grisham’s novel. The theme is expressed in two different ways through the brothers, Mark and Ricky, at the center of its narrative. The two boys (aged 11 and eight respectively) were thrust into the horrific situation of witnessing Romey’s suicide, but the Sway brothers have tragic backstories as well, growing up with an abusive father and largely absent single mother who must work long hours to provide for her children. Other events in the novel worth mentioning here are the burning of the Sway family’s mobile home and Mark being locked up by Judge Harry Roosevelt. These two events reflect how the Sway brothers not only encountered trauma in their past but encounter cumulative trauma throughout The Client. Mark and Ricky thus have layers of childhood trauma that they are forced to grapple with in the novel. Grisham is not only recognizing the existence of children being thrust into unfair, harmful, and dangerous situations, but he also meditates on the physical, mental, and emotional repercussions that traumatic encounters leave on children.

Mark’s younger brother Ricky serves as a clear expression of the physical effects that trauma can have on children.