Change of Heart

January 21, 2008
Picoult bangs out another ripped-from-the-zeitgeist winner, this time examining a condemned inmate’s desire to be an organ donor. Freelance carpenter Shay Bourne was sentenced to death for killing a little girl, Elizabeth Nealon, and her cop stepfather. Eleven years after the murders, Elizabeth’s sister, Claire, needs a heart transplant, and Shay volunteers, which complicates the state’s execution plans. Meanwhile, death row has been the scene of some odd events since Shay’s arrival—an AIDS victim goes into remission, an inmate’s pet bird dies and is brought back to life, wine flows from the water faucets. The author brings other compelling elements to an already complex plot line: the priest who serves as Shay’s spiritual adviser was on the jury that sentenced him; Shay’s ACLU representative, Maggie Bloom, balances her professional moxie with her negative self-image and difficult relationship with her mother. Picoult moves the story along with lively debates about prisoner rights and religion, while plumbing the depths of mother-daughter relationships and examining the literal and metaphorical meanings of having heart. The point-of-view switches are abrupt, but this is a small flaw in an impressive book. 1,000,000-million copy first printing.

February 15, 2008
Noted for her heart-wrenching stories and the complicated humanity of her characters, Picoult ("The Tenth Circle; My Sister's Keeper") continues her successful foray into fiction. In her new novel, she delves into questions of faith, vengeance, and redemption by exploring the rage of a mother who has lost a daughter, the bitterness of a criminal on death row, and the fate of a critically ill child that forces them together one last time to test the question, Can even the most understandable thirst for vengeance be quashed if it means saving someone you love? Picoult tackles the most complicated personal and political issues with compassion and clarity, and her fans will want this one. Suitable for all public libraries.Colleen S. Harris, Univ. of Tennessee Lib. at Chattanooga

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2008
Picoult engineers high-impact plots involving murder, car accidents, child abuse, medical ethics, and a school shooting not simply to sweep readers away with there-but-for-the-grace-of-God-go-I melodrama and suspense but also to craft provocative and relevant moral dilemmas rich in nuance, mystery, and wit. Following the success of Nineteen Minutes (2007) and with a movie version of My Sisters Keeper (2004) on the way, Picoult presents her fifteenth shrewd and dynamic novel, a compulsively readable saga and dramatic critique of capital punishment. She also seems determined to give The Da Vinci Code (2003) a run for its money. Shay Bourne, an enigmatic 33-year-old carpenter, has been sentenced to death in New Hampshire for the murders of a police officer and his stepdaughter. Their surviving wife and mother was pregnant at the time, and now her 11-year-old daughter needs a heart transplant. Guess who wants to help, and guess who seems to be performing miracles in prison.Shay attracts appealing champions: young Father Michael, who served on the jury that condemned Shay to death; wisecracking, plus-size Maggie, a rabbis daughter and ACLU attorney; and artistic Lucius, who is serving one life sentence for murder and another due to AIDS. Laced with intriguing musings on the Gnostic Gospels, Picoultsbold story of loss, justice, redemption, and faith reminds us how tragically truth can be concealed and denied.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)