Handle with Care is a heart wrenching story about a little girl, Willow, so fragile, the slightest touch could break her. Literally….Willow is born with a disease known as Osteogenisis Imperfecta. Also known as Brittle Bone Disease. Yes, it is real, and yes I have seen this very rare disease in person. The author goes into great detail talking about the disease, the way the whites of the eyes are shaded a very pale blue, almost grey color and when a bone breaks how they become almost electric blue. The story revolves around the little girl and her family, but it is told to Willow, from the points of view of the characters in the story. Like most of Picoult’s books, there is some legal action that needs to be taken. In this story, the parent’s sue the OB for wrongful birth of their daughter. Stating that had they known what she had, they may have made the decision to abort. So the hot topic in this book is, if you knew that a child you so desperately wanted would be born with a debilitating, life altering disease, would you terminate the pregnancy??
The Tenth Circle is yet another legal case, but this time it is a rape trial that turns into murder. A father who is a stay at home dad, but still does free-lance work comes face to face with his terrible past and a terrible reality for his daughter. He doesn’t see how she is growing up right in front of his eyes, nor does he see his wife’s secret behavior. Things go terribly wrong at a party for the girl and it only seems to escalate from there. The father seems to travel to Hell and back trying to pull his daughter back from the deep dark place he knows she is falling into, but as he chases after her, the demons he has long hidden begin to resurface and doesn’t seem to recognize himself anymore. Together the family discovers how far they will go for each other and what it takes to walk through Hell.
Perfect Match is every parents worst nightmare come to life. Nina, a very successful ADA fights child molesters every day in court. Some win, some loose, but it will never happen to her. Then one day she notices something in her son. Something not right. She looks at her son and sees in him what she sees in all the children she works with every day. She flies into a rage and will go any distance to save her child and to protect all other children. She suddenly finds herself on the opposite end of the law, not as the prosecutor, but as the defendant. Not comfortable at all in this new skin, her family is ripped apart by her choices. This novel brings to light another controversial topic, and a parents reaction of what they should or should not do. For Nina, it was the only choice she had.
Plain Truth is a book I thought was absolutely fascinating. It takes places in a sleepy Amish community in the Pennsylvania country side. In the middle of the night a birth takes place in a quiet barn. Within a few hours, the baby is found, dead. But where is the mother? No one claims to have had a child, but the mother to be is quickly found. She denies having any baby, but the truth is there in the back of her mind no one can reach. A trial quickly begins and a fight to save an innocent live begins. I loved this book and never guessed the ending, and never would have in a million years. I loved reading about the simple life of the Amish community. It just drew me in and made me wonder how it would be to live like that. Straight from the Earth, no technology, no electricity…just plain.
Mercy is probably the most controversial book I have read of Picoult’s. A sleepy little town in the Massachusetts country side is rocked when an apparent act of mercy comes to town. A man claiming to be the chief of police’s cousin has confessed to murder. He confesses he killed her because she asked him to. The police soon discover, the wife had been terminally ill and the husband was simply carrying out her wish. The town is turned upside down by this unwelcome visitor and the notion that love so strong can make you kill. This book was written in the mid 90’s so it is very “Dr. Death”. But it made me think, could I have the strength to kill my terminally ill husband? Is euthanasia for humans right? Does any human have the right to help another in an assisted suicide? Ahh…so many questions and not enough answers. This book is about undying love, faithfulness twisted with temptation, and a man’s absolute love for his wife.
I am working on another one of her books and based off the last several I have been able to get my little hands on, I cannot wait to finish it!!!
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