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TharProductionPak

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YouTube Channel

T.P. has well equipped ,in-house ,quality voice recording Studio, Production house for shooting...

Fujifilm Instax Mini 9

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Tech Watch

Shake up your life with the instax mini 9 - a compact instant camera with a cute and iconic design....

Saving Faith

David Baldacci

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In a secluded house not far from Washington, D.C., the FBI is interviewing one of the most important...

Hazel (1853 KP) rated A Spark Of Light in Books

Feb 24, 2019

A Spark Of Light

Jodi Picoult | 2018 | Contemporary, Crime

8.0

(14 Ratings)

Book Rating

Jodi Picoult tackles the age-old issue of abortion in her latest novel A Spark of Light. As a controversial topic, abortion is a challenging ethical problem to write about, however, with a mix of characters, Picoult manages to argue from all points of view. Full of secrets and shocking truths, the novel reveals the complexity of balancing the right to life with the right to choose.

The book begins with a horrifying shooting and hostage situation at a centre for women's reproductive health. George, the shooter, is angry with his daughter for having an abortion, but rather than blaming her, he takes it out on the doctors and nurses who perform the operations and the unfortunate women who happen to be in the waiting room. In fact, only one of the female hostages have had an abortion, the others are there for very different reasons.

A Spark of Light is written backwards, beginning with the hostage situation and gradually revealing the previous hours, describing how each character got themselves in this position. The chapters alternate between characters: the doctors and nurses who work at the Centre; the women who have come for treatment - not necessarily an abortion; and an anti-abortion campaigner. The most important storyline, however, is told through the eyes of three people: Wren, a fifteen-year-old trapped in the clinic; the gunman, and the negotiator, who happens to be Wren's father.

What begins as a two-sided debate about abortion - albeit in a deadly scenario - ends in a standoff between two fathers, both of whom only want to do what is best for their daughters. Although Nick, the negotiator, would not walk into a clinic and start shooting, he learns he has much more in common with the terrorist than he thought possible.

The prose is a little confusing to begin with, however, once the "backwards" writing style becomes clear, it is a very enjoyable story. The only problem with this style of writing is that readers are left with so many questions about what happened after the shooting. We become so invested in the lives of the characters, it feels almost mean not to know who they cope after the traumatising event.