What can I say that is different than the description of the book or the thoughts of some of the previous famous writers that reviewed the book that are included in the description. This is a very thought-provoking book on the subject of a clinic that offers women abortions, back in the day when they were legal in some states, not in all, and pro-life/pro-choice was just as difficult a choice for women who found themselves pregnant or wanted to use birth control. In order to get to the clinic, you had to run the gauntlet of the people who chose to protest every single day at this particular clinic. That in of itself would give some people pause before going in. On this particular day a gunman decides to go into the clinic to take a stance for his daughter who went to this particular clinic in the past. There is a police hostage negotiator that begins to set up a plan to speak with the gunman and sets up the perimeter only to get a text from his own 15-year-old daughter, Wren, who to his horror is inside the clinic along with her Aunt. This book is takes you through the white-knuckle time inside the clinic and through the thoughts of each character inside the clinic. You’ll be driven to read this book to the end to find out the fate of each of the characters, but of course that of Wren who is so young to be caught up in the middle of all of this, who keeps waiting for her Dad to rescue them. I can only say that Jodi Picoult has written this book in such a way that everyone might wish to rethink their stance and what they would do in each and every character’s position. She is to be applauded for taking on this subject in this story in the way that she did. It’s obvious that much thought, and much research went into the writing of this story and the way she set up the story makes the telling even more powerful.
I received a kindle version of this book through NetGalley and Random House books and I highly recommend this book for everyone to read!
The Description of the book as found on NetGalley.com:
The #1 New York Times bestselling 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 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.
Advance praise for A Spark of Light
“The author presents the white-knuckled narrative in a reverse-chronological order. The effect is mesmerizing, as Picoult establishes moments in the overarching event, before revealing how they came to be.”—Houston Chronicle
“Picoult delivers another riveting yarn . . . in this carefully crafted, utterly gripping tale.”—Booklist (starred review)
