Jodi Picoult has done well for a Princeton honor grad. Her twenty-five books have been #1 on some list or another, usually the New York Times. This issue came out in 2012. Her writing centers on family issues and the like.

This story involves a pickup crash which leaves the father, Luke, in a vegetative state. We get to know him through his writings and interviews scattered throughout the book. The struggle is between his two children, Edward, twenty-four and estranged from his father since he was eighteen; and Cara, seventeen and seriously injured in the crash.

The point of conflict is to pull the plug on Luke or not. Their mother, Georgie is divorced and remarried with twin children and a lawyer husband. She no longer has a legal right to decide what Luke might want, but she tries to keep her two waring children from tearing each other apart.

As you probably know, this is not my usual read. The book has been around our house for several years, Becky having read it and left it for me. I picked it up and was hooked on page one. Picoult has that wordsmith writing style that would make a phone book lovely to read. I am already planning to read Second Glance.

Picoult already has more awards than any two people deserve, so I’ll give her a 4.8.

Mike Lawrence