Sing you Home - Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is a solid writer, her books are usually intriguing and interesting and Sing you Home isn’t really an exception, told via three different perspectives, Zoe Baxter has spent many years and thousands trying to get pregnant as both she and husband Max have fertility issues, when she loses her baby in her third trimester a distraught Zoe prepares herself for another round of vitro but husband Max can’t carry on and asks for a divorce instead. As Max hits rock bottom his brother Reid and sister in law Liddy introduce him to his Pastor Clive, a man who is strongly against and protests issues like abortion, gay marriage and relationships and is infamous for his strong stances not his religious efforts.

Meanwhile Zoe connects with Vanessa and their friendship soon turns to love, Zoe and Vanessa decide to use Zoë’s remaining eggs and allow Vanessa to carry their child, however when Zoe goes to get Max’s permission he takes the advice of his pastor and sues her, intending to give her eggs to his sister in law and brother, believing that a child shouldn’t be raised in a lesbian setting.

Max is a frustrating character and for much of the book, I did want to punch him. His callous abandonment of Zoe, his blind faith in Pastor Clive, his lack of thought or feeling for Zoe, however he does pull it around and by the end, I hated him a little less. Zoe and Vanessa are well fleshed out characters that you do root for. Maxs’ brother is much the same as Max and sister in law Liddy is supposed to be a bloody angel but is often contrived and difficult to warm to.

My one criticism of the novel would probably be that it paints Christianity as a religion in a general bad light, none of the religious characters have any redeeming features and the way Zoe and Vanessa are treated is absolutely not reflective of millions of Christians, however if Picoult was intending to point out that sometimes religion does lead to conflict, especially when coupled with a modern lifestyle, she has done so without raising controversy.

I gave it three stars, it is as dependable as I have come to find Picoults’ novels to be and is a good addition to anyone working their way through her works.