A Spark of Light: A Novel
Written by Jodi Picoult
Narrated by Bahni Turpin
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
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.
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.
Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult received an AB in creative writing from Princeton and a master’s degree in education from Harvard. The recipient of the 2003 New England Book Award for her entire body of work, she is the author of twenty-seven novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers House Rules, Handle With Care, Change of Heart, and My Sister’s Keeper, for which she received the American Library Association’s Margaret Alexander Edwards Award. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. Visit her website at JodiPicoult.com.
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Reviews for A Spark of Light
88 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great Book! Jodi Picoult is an amazing author. I recommend!
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors, so it pains me to say that this book was not up to par for her books. I’ll leave my personal feelings about the subject out of the review. For me, the reason this book isn’t good is because it didn’t work being written from end to beginning. It made the book very confusing. Also, maybe it’s because I listened to the audiobook, but it jumped around from person to person so often that it was hard to keep them all straight. And there was so much blah blah blah. It wasn’t about the shooting as much as it was about everyone in the clinic telling random stories and expressing their views on abortion. It almost made it feel more like a persuasive essay. I just couldn’t connect or care about any one character because it switched perspectives so quickly and frequently. I couldn’t wait for it to be over. It also left a lot of loose ends in the book. It left a lot of storylines unresolved. I did like the narrator, I’ve listened to her before and she has a great voice. Very disappointed in this one. If this had been the first JP book I’d ever read I would never read her books again, but since this is the first time I didn’t like one of her books I’ll give this one a miss and try again.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Always well researched detailed information in the story. Great story.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Weird timeline. Too many characters. Too many MALE characters in a book about abortion. This wasn't a hit for me. The audiobook made it palatable, but it was hard to keep track of the characters and the timing. Not a hit.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5What an interesting book, and a somewhat difficult one to review. The subject matter (abortion) is a polarizing one, but then again most of the subjects Jodi Picoult tackles are difficult and often polarizing ones. So I went into it knowing that - fortunately I also knew that this was written with a bit of a twist - the timeline runs backwards, chapter by chapter. I'm glad I knew that, because even armed with that knowledge, at times it was a bit confusing.
There's plenty of thought-provoking content for the reader, characters and ideas on both sides of the issue for readers on both sides of the issue to (hopefully) ponder and consider. At turns both heartbreaking and hopeful, this one might not end up being my favorite Jodi Picoult read, but I'm very glad I read it.
My thanks to Netgalley and Random House/Ballantine Books for providing a copy for an unbiased review. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beautiful and extraordinary.
This book open my mind and my heart toward abortion and pro-life.
I hope one day we can resolve this issue together and to combat the injustice. - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The story was very slow, seemed very repetitive and had a hard tome moving on