This is Jodi Picoult's latest novel. She has written 21 books and I am sure I have read 14 or 15 of them. Her most famous novel is "My Sister's Keeper" - this was adapted into a motion picture in 2009. She is a gifted storyteller. When I read her novels, her characters become real people to me. She grips me... they grip me, and more often than not, I find myself lost in their world, craving more of their lives. Each 'chapter' is written from a different characters point of view, which is precisely why her readers get so encircled by their stories. Her past 2 novels, "Sing Me Home" and "Lone Wolf" have not been on my favorites list. It's not that I didn't like them, they just weren't "Jodi" enough for me... no twists, no intoxicating legal battles, no characters that I was drawn to so when I stumbled upon "The Storyteller", I was skeptical... momentarily of course, because I knew I would eventually read it. I got it Thursday evening. I finished it Saturday night. Enough said.
In my opinion, this is hands down her best novel. I was addicted to this book. Any chance I got, I read... even if it was 2 or 3 pages. I simply could not put it down. I don't know how many details I want to give. One thing I will say is that it is sad. Heartbreakingly sad. And horrible. A section of the novel is a character, Minka, describing her experience at the concentration camp 'Auschiwtz' during the Holocaust. Yes, this novel is fiction, but her depiction of the genocide I have no doubt is filled with many truths. Each page described the desolation, the discrimination, the ghastly acts, the repulsive living conditions that were Minka's reality. I was devastated. And drawn in. However, this is not necessarily the 'meat and potatoes' of this novel, so to speak. There is more. Much much more. I found it to be refreshingly different than her other novels. And yet, it had the same delicate thought put into her characterizations and of course, her ending. I am salivating for more of Jodi. If you get a chance, read it! Mainly because I NEED someone to discuss this with :)
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