I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with Jodi Picoult. Her books are so formulaic. They are basically the same type of story, the same story layout, the same part of the country, the only thing that changes is the "cause of the day" and the characters names.
Well, In Sing You Home, (releasing March 1, 2011) the "Cause of the Day" happens to be Gay & Lesbian rights. See if you can stay with me here, Zoe was at one time married to Max. They had fertility problems and sought the help of IVF. Unfortunately, not even IVF could give them a baby and they divorced, leaving three embryos behind. Flash forward and Zoe finds herself in love. With Vanessa. They have decided that Vanessa will carry their baby, but all they need is for Max to sign off on their use of the embryos. Neither one of them expected to run into this type of roadblock. Max has found Jesus and has joined forces with an Evangelical minister who will stop at nothing to prevent Vanessa and Zoe from using those embryos. And as you expect with Jodi Picoult, a nasty legal battle ensues.
I really enjoyed this story because I really enjoyed Vanessa and Zoe. They were two characters that I genuinely LIKED. They were flawed and deeply insecure in their own ways, but they were confident in their love. That is admirable no matter who you love.
I truly believe that at the route of *most* ignorance is fear. Fear of the unknown and it's perceived impact on their own lives. Fear that is fed by media outlets looking to serve their own agenda. Jodi Picoult did an amazing job of painting a very realistic picture that will help dispel those stereotypes. Vanessa & Zoe are just like me & my husband. They love, they laugh, they share housekeeping duties, they share their worries, and they plan on being together forever.
Sing You Home is a well written novel about a very sensitive subject in our country right now. But once you get right down to it, the book is about love. The love two people share and want to share with their child, and those who want to put a stop to it, all in the name of God's love. Who is right? Who is wrong? Jodi Picoult has a bad habit of ruining a book by her endings, not this one. The ending was far from predictable and it was very satisfying. Now if we could just get her to write outside the "formula"....
I've only read one of her books (My Sister's Keeper) but her formula was quite obvious there.
Formulaic is fine, as long as you know it's coming and more power to her for mining that niche. This one does sound good
(by the way, the grammar nerd would like to point out you have a typo - it's "root cause" )
This one sounds great... I can't wait for it. I either LOVE or HATE her books. There's no in between :)
Post a Comment