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Change of Heart
by Jodi Picoult (Goodreads Author)
by Jodi Picoult (Goodreads Author)
"I believe a good person can do bad things, Father Michael had said. Like make the wrong decision for the right reasons. Sign your daughter's life away, because she can't have a murderer's heart."
Jodi Picoult's most recent novel, like many of her books, explores a profound ethical dilemma. After her husband and daughter are murdered by a man hired to do work in their home, June is left alone to care for her second child, Claire. Claire is in desperate need of a heart transplant due to an enlarged heart cavity, and the death row inmate, Shay Bourne, who murdered Claire's father and sister has offered to donate his after the execution. Shay must find out if he will, legally, be able to follow through on this final wish. June must decide if she will take the heart that led a man to murder and put in the chest of her own 11-year-old child.
Picoult has a knack for placing her characters in the middle of a complicated situation born from modern current ethical issues, and she often makes this reader wonder 'Well, what would I do?' As I read these novels, I am offered a clear advantage as Picoult presents her case through the perspectives of many of the characters locked in the emotional struggle. The uncanny objectiveness that allows Ms. Picoult to place her readers in the minds of her characters is one of the reasons I wait breathlessly for her newest novels.
I wasn't disappointed.
Having just finished reading A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, Change of Heart was like coming home after a long trip. Everything about the book felt comfortable, familiar, and almost easy. And, during this Easter season, I was amazed as I saw a similar theme emerge in this book as had in Owen Meany. The Christ-like characteristics of both Owen in A Prayer for Owen Meany and Shay Bourne in this novel both seemed to follow a predestined (and almost sacrificial) path in their own lives. It almost felt as though there were a spiritual influence at work as I considered how these two books both told stories of men whose lives played out similarly to that of Jesus. Of course, at different points in the novel, Change of Heart also reminded me of the movie Dead Man Walking and the real-life story of Elizabeth Smart so I believe Jodi Picoult finds her inspiration in many places.
Although this was not my favorite Jodi Picoult novel, I was not disappointed and I would recommend this book to anybody who wants a book that's easy to read but still makes you think about the 'bigger' questions of life.
Jodi Picoult's most recent novel, like many of her books, explores a profound ethical dilemma. After her husband and daughter are murdered by a man hired to do work in their home, June is left alone to care for her second child, Claire. Claire is in desperate need of a heart transplant due to an enlarged heart cavity, and the death row inmate, Shay Bourne, who murdered Claire's father and sister has offered to donate his after the execution. Shay must find out if he will, legally, be able to follow through on this final wish. June must decide if she will take the heart that led a man to murder and put in the chest of her own 11-year-old child.
Picoult has a knack for placing her characters in the middle of a complicated situation born from modern current ethical issues, and she often makes this reader wonder 'Well, what would I do?' As I read these novels, I am offered a clear advantage as Picoult presents her case through the perspectives of many of the characters locked in the emotional struggle. The uncanny objectiveness that allows Ms. Picoult to place her readers in the minds of her characters is one of the reasons I wait breathlessly for her newest novels.
I wasn't disappointed.
Having just finished reading A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, Change of Heart was like coming home after a long trip. Everything about the book felt comfortable, familiar, and almost easy. And, during this Easter season, I was amazed as I saw a similar theme emerge in this book as had in Owen Meany. The Christ-like characteristics of both Owen in A Prayer for Owen Meany and Shay Bourne in this novel both seemed to follow a predestined (and almost sacrificial) path in their own lives. It almost felt as though there were a spiritual influence at work as I considered how these two books both told stories of men whose lives played out similarly to that of Jesus. Of course, at different points in the novel, Change of Heart also reminded me of the movie Dead Man Walking and the real-life story of Elizabeth Smart so I believe Jodi Picoult finds her inspiration in many places.
Although this was not my favorite Jodi Picoult novel, I was not disappointed and I would recommend this book to anybody who wants a book that's easy to read but still makes you think about the 'bigger' questions of life.
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Quotes Marika Liked
“This is what it always comes down to, I realized. There are the ones who believe, and the ones who don't, and caught in the space between them are guns.”
― Jodi Picoult, Change of Heart
― Jodi Picoult, Change of Heart
