A teenage suicide pact, one dies, the other does not and the families fall apart.  I cannot believe the power of this author, her My Sister’s Keeper was about bringing a child into the world to keep another alive and her Plain Truth was about an Amish mother accused of murdering her baby.  Each book tackles profoundly tough, sensitive issues putting them in the context of real life.  She’s extraordinary and although new over here, she has been writing for years.  Her British publishers have bought eleven of her books and are bringing one out every four months.  I’ve no idea if she can keep the spellbinding power up but so far I have been bowled over.

Comparison: Anita Shreve, Joanna Trollope, Alice Hoffman.
Similar this month: None, but try Rosie Thomas or Jenny Eclair.

Synopsis

For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty-- they've grown so close it seems they have always been a part of each other's lives. Parents and children alike have been best friends, so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more. They've been soul mates since they were born.

So when midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There's a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris took from his father's cabinet-- a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris has described.

The profound questions faced by the characters in this heart-rending novel are those we can all relate to: How well do we ever really know our children, our friends? What if… ? As its chapters unfold, alternating between an idyllic past and an unthinkable present, THE PACT paints an indelible portrait of families in anguish… culminating in an astonishingly suspenseful courtroom drama as Chris finds himself on trial for murder.

Reviews

About the Author

Jodi Picoult grew up in Nesconset, New York. She received an A.B. in creative writing from Princeton and a master's degree in education from Harvard. Her previous novels include Keeping Faith, The Pact, and Mercy. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. Photograph © Gasper Tringale More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation