Why Jodi Picoult is My Favorite Author

I have been reading novels by author Jodi Picoult for several years now. She has written eighteen novels during her writing career, which has spanned nearly twenty years. Her first novel, Songs of the Humpback Whale, tells the story of a woman who has always lived in the shadow of others. At a turning point in her life, she exerts her independence and takes a journey that will change her forever. The story is told is five voices, each of them taking you through their journey. Ms. Picoult is able to give each narrator a distinct voice, further carrying you into the story. This multi-narrator method of writing is something she has done in other works and it always adds to the believability of the story, providing different perspective on the same situation.

Perhaps my favorite Jodi Picoult novel is Change of Heart. While reading this book, I openly wept. Luckily, I was concealed behind a pair of sunglasses. Ms. Picoult, through her writing, enables the reader to feel exactly what the characters are going through. In this novel, a mother is suffering through the loss of her husband and daughter and struggling with the illness of her other child. The emotions are rich as well as real.

Over the course of her writing career, Jodi Picoult has tackled many issues, and this is yet another reason why she is a favorite read of mine. Whether she is writing about abuse, gay rights, autism, bullying or organ donation, she is certain to make you think about your views before, during, and long after you’ve finished her book. She has the uncanny ability to take an event from the headlines and make it her own. As with most of her books, I remain “on the fence” so to speak, regarding the issue she is writing about. I become completely swept away into the lives of the characters of the story. But it’s more than that. They are not just characters – they become real to me, at least while I am engrossed in the novel, and that, to me at least, is the mark of a truly gifted writer.


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