#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of Small Great Things returns with a powerful and provocative new novel about ordinary lives that intersect during a heart-stopping crisis.“Picoult at her fearless best . . . Timely, balanced and certain to inspire debate.”—The Washington Post The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff … Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.
After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.
But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order to save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester, disguised as a patient, who now stands in the crosshairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.
Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.
One of the most fearless writers of our time, Jodi Picoult tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding.
Praise for A Spark of Light
“This is Jodi Picoult at her best: tackling an emotional hot-button issue and putting a human face on it.”—People
“Told backward and hour by hour, Jodi Picoult’s compelling narrative deftly explores controversial social issues.”—Us Weekly
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I loved the format of this book. The characters were very well developed and realistic
I have read several of Jodi Picoult’s books and loved them. She is very good at tackling controversial topics but with this book she seems too biased to the abortionist and pro-choice side of the topic and I didn’t like the style of story being told backwards hourly. It still was a fairly entertaining read I just wish she had been more balanced with how she built her characters on both sides of the issue.
Couldn’t put down great book
Boring!
I love Piccoult, but not this time. It was a Did Not Finish. Inexplicable decision to start from the end and go to the front. It was confusing. Also, it just dragged. Maybe I wasn’t sold on the necessity of rehashing Roe vs Wade. I know for some women it’s a passionate belief, one way or the other, but I feel bludgeoned to death with passionate beliefs right now. Sorry Jodi! Just one woman’s opinion.
Examined may side of pregnancy termination issue.
Choppy storytelling – I had trouble following. Spent a lot of time flipping back and forth. Compelling subject matter – with the story taking place at an abortion clinic. Usually enjoy Picoult’s books, but not so much this time.
Picoult tackles abortion and all that goes with it. She does an excellent job of presenting many sides of a complex issue and ends the book with a supplement regarding where laws stand now. The relationships of people in the story are the key while spinning out the complexities of this topic. The setting is a woman’s clinic which performs abortions but also women’s reproductive health concerns such as birth control (so that an abortion can be avoided), and counseling. We count backwards (this is not really a spoiler as it is told in the first pages) of an angry man with a gun who has rushed the clinic and taken hostages. The backwards telling is also compelling. I believe the book makes the point that access to birth control reduces the need for abortions which no one really “wants” but many need and are in such despair that absent this option in a medically safe setting, other unsafe means will be employed as was the case prior legalizing abortion. To say the book is “pro” abortion is to miss the point- it is pro health and healthy choices. It illustrates how haunting. having made that choice can be. Which is to say it tilts to choice but does not dismiss the heartfelt belief that abortion is a sin. I have high standards and so while this is not literature, it is a well written, compelling story,
This deals with an important topic but I was put off by so much side information about abortion clinics.
‘Life and death begin with a spark of light’. An twist on drama by having the hour by hour action narrated in reverse! 10 characters experience the same event but oh so differently. Each character has their own story with unexpected overlaps. One of the characters has a revelation, that becoming an woman was not about having sex but about having to make choices, sometime hard, sometimes terrible, then living with the consequences. This is a story about the choices these characters make and the consequences. Powerfully written and moving, it made me think about the whole pro life and pro choice debate and wonder if we can ever find a commonality…
I am a big fan of Jodi Picolt. I like how she goes out of her way to tell both sides of a story. I am not sure why I wasn’t a fan of this book. Maybe because she was trying too hard to not show what her feelings were? I learned way more about the procedure then maybe I needed to know. I would still recommend this book.
It is confusing. I love Jody picoult and this book is confusing because it comes back and forth too many times if you are organized it is nota book for you
Definitely a page turner & realistic. Love Jodi Picoult’s books
Outstanding.
I would have given this book five stars but I find it difficult to remain connected to characters and plots when events continue to go back and forth in time. I want to say “get on with it already!” although the great aspects of the book were compelling enough that they carried me through those times. Well done!
A wonderful book. It is a captivating story and well researched as well as very well written.
Initially it was hard to follow the reverse timeline, but it was an engaging way to tell the story. Although a work of fiction, the author’s research was spot on regarding the lives of her characters. A worthy read about contemporary times!
Another winner!
Another thought provoking novel.
It wasn’t my favorite by Jodi Picoult. I knew the material would be heavy by the book description, but I felt it moved too slow. Both were too much and I couldn’t enjoy it because it felt like it just dragged. Disappointed.