THE STORYTELLER BY JODI PICOULT

PLOT SUMMARY:

Sage Singer is a baker. She works through the night, preparing the day’s breads and pastries, trying to escape a reality of loneliness, bad memories, and the shadow of her mother’s death. When Josef Weber, an elderly man in Sage’s grief support group, begins stopping by the bakery, they strike up an unlikely friendship. Despite their differences, they see in each other the hidden scars that others can’t, and they become companions.

Everything changes on the day that Josef confesses a long-buried and shameful secret—one that nobody else in town would ever suspect—and asks Sage for an extraordinary favour. If she says yes, she faces not only moral repercussions, but potentially legal ones as well. With her own identity suddenly challenged, and the integrity of the closest friend she’s ever had clouded, Sage begins to question the assumptions and expectations she’s made about her life and her family. When does a moral choice become a moral imperative? And where does one draw the line between punishment and justice, forgiveness and mercy?

MY REVIEW:

I love Jodi Picoult. Ever since I read Small Great Things, I just can't get enough of her books. This book blew me away! It was not at all what I was expecting after reading the description on the back but I loved it even more as a result.

This is a story of family, loyalty, shame and anger and Picoult portrays it beautifully. She brings you on the most unexpected journey and as much as I wanted to get to finish the book to find out what happens, I also didn't want the book to end.

I won't say much more as I don't want to spoil it but please read it.

IN 3 WORDS/PHRASES:

Breath taking

Emotional

Beautifully written

FAVOURITE QUOTE:

'Friends,' Josef repeats, beaming. 'We are friends now.'

A twenty-five-year-old disfigured girl and a nonagenarian? I suppose there have been stranger duos.

FAVOURITE CHARACTER:

Minka, her story and the way she tells it made me love her character the most. She also seems like a woman who is so full of life and who you could just talk to you for hours.

MY OVERALL RATING:

10/10