by Jodi Picoult
Synopsis:
The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.
After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.
But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester disguised as a patient, who now stands in the cross hairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.
Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.
Jodi Picoult—one of the most fearless writers of our time—tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding.
(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication date: October 2nd 2018
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Book Depository
My Rating: ★★★★☆
My Thoughts:
I am not one to shy away from books that talk about things that might challenge my preconceptions. The latest YA contemporary that recently shook my core in a good way tackled such a divisive topic – the right to abortion of a rape victim. Honestly, I am currently not on either side and I still have a lot of questions going through my mind. I want to know more about the topic and reading about it when it’s integrated in fiction form is the best non-boring way to do it. This is why I am excited that the latest from Jodi Picoult (of the My Sister’s Keeper fame) is about a hostage standoff in an abortion clinic.
The unfolding of A Spark of Flight relied on its distinct style and format. The chapters are broken up one hour apart, arranged backwards. The first chapter starts at 5PM and the last chapter is at 8AM, with an epilogue time stamped at 6PM. Within that timeframe, the reader moves in and out of the thoughts of various characters involved in the hostage drama. These thoughts leap smoothly from one character to another in a series of vignettes: bursts of flashbacks, snapshots of memories and present-day thoughts.
Even though there is a large cast of characters to get into, I found it easy to see through each character’s eyes. These large cast of characters felt lived-in and multi-dimensional which a huge feat on itself. I appreciate how the book represented people from both ends of the pro-choice and pro-life spectrum. The book conveys that abortion is not a clear-cut black and white issue – that the lives of the people involved especially women are a thousand shades of gray. Women who opt for abortion are not bad people. And not all people who are against abortion are judgmental or extremists. One’s belief does not necessary cancel out another’s belief.
The book’s sentiments are not unfounded. On the author’s note at the back of the book, the author mentioned that in writing the book, she interviewed pro-life advocates and women who had terminated pregnancy. She also observed the abortion process of three patients in varying stages of pregnancy and shadowed a real life abortion doctor. She is armed with facts and stats and even cited abortion laws in different U.S. states. That level of extensive research translated in her book resulting in a realistic and nuanced work.
There is a stray plotline in the book involving another teenager in a different place away from the hostage crisis. I kinda guessed it early how the girl’s story will converge with the hostage drama but the book insisted in revealing it further along. The girl took abortion pills bought online and she profusely bled then ended up in hospital arrest as a result. This thread is not as tense and interesting compared with the harrowing hostage scenes in the abortion clinic but it serves the purpose of tackling the legal side of things through the two opposing lawyers discussing the girl’s case.
The book is immersive but I would not say that it is unputdownable. The vignette style allowed me to drop the book without breaking too much on the continuity of the story. This is perfect for readers who don't have the luxury of time to read a book in one sitting. As I delve deeper through the backwards timeline, there are discoveries on the interconnections of these characters who are otherwise stranger to each other. There are surprises, lies, untold I love you’s even among the supposedly close and intimate characters. I only know Jodi Picoult as the author of the book which the film My Sister’s Keeper is based on. (I watched the film but not yet read the book.) I remember how a tearjerker that movie was. This book did not attain that level of high emotions for me but nevertheless I would love to read more Jodi Picoult books in the future.
Diversity Watch:
Setting: Mississippi, U.S.AThe unfolding of A Spark of Flight relied on its distinct style and format. The chapters are broken up one hour apart, arranged backwards. The first chapter starts at 5PM and the last chapter is at 8AM, with an epilogue time stamped at 6PM. Within that timeframe, the reader moves in and out of the thoughts of various characters involved in the hostage drama. These thoughts leap smoothly from one character to another in a series of vignettes: bursts of flashbacks, snapshots of memories and present-day thoughts.
Even though there is a large cast of characters to get into, I found it easy to see through each character’s eyes. These large cast of characters felt lived-in and multi-dimensional which a huge feat on itself. I appreciate how the book represented people from both ends of the pro-choice and pro-life spectrum. The book conveys that abortion is not a clear-cut black and white issue – that the lives of the people involved especially women are a thousand shades of gray. Women who opt for abortion are not bad people. And not all people who are against abortion are judgmental or extremists. One’s belief does not necessary cancel out another’s belief.
The book’s sentiments are not unfounded. On the author’s note at the back of the book, the author mentioned that in writing the book, she interviewed pro-life advocates and women who had terminated pregnancy. She also observed the abortion process of three patients in varying stages of pregnancy and shadowed a real life abortion doctor. She is armed with facts and stats and even cited abortion laws in different U.S. states. That level of extensive research translated in her book resulting in a realistic and nuanced work.
There is a stray plotline in the book involving another teenager in a different place away from the hostage crisis. I kinda guessed it early how the girl’s story will converge with the hostage drama but the book insisted in revealing it further along. The girl took abortion pills bought online and she profusely bled then ended up in hospital arrest as a result. This thread is not as tense and interesting compared with the harrowing hostage scenes in the abortion clinic but it serves the purpose of tackling the legal side of things through the two opposing lawyers discussing the girl’s case.
The book is immersive but I would not say that it is unputdownable. The vignette style allowed me to drop the book without breaking too much on the continuity of the story. This is perfect for readers who don't have the luxury of time to read a book in one sitting. As I delve deeper through the backwards timeline, there are discoveries on the interconnections of these characters who are otherwise stranger to each other. There are surprises, lies, untold I love you’s even among the supposedly close and intimate characters. I only know Jodi Picoult as the author of the book which the film My Sister’s Keeper is based on. (I watched the film but not yet read the book.) I remember how a tearjerker that movie was. This book did not attain that level of high emotions for me but nevertheless I would love to read more Jodi Picoult books in the future.
Hugh McElroy – the hostage negotiator. 40 years old. Physically described with black hair and blue eyes.
Wren McElroy – a hostage, Hugh’s daughter. 15 years old. Described as freckled and blue eyed.
Bex McElroy – Hugh’s spinster older sister and Wren’s aunt.
George Goddard – the hostage taker. Middle-aged. Described as white, brown haired.
Olive Lemay – a hostage, pale skinned. 68 years old. Explicit in text that she is a lesbian living with her wife, Peg
Joy Perry – a hostage, described as blonde and freckled.
Joe – Joy’s lover, described as a Barack Obama lookalike. Another description says he is black with blue eyes.
Janine Deguerre – a hostage, wearing a blonde wig but has actually a dark hair pixie cut.
Dr. Louie Ward – a hostage, an abortion doctor, explicit in text that he is African American.
Izzy Walsh – a hostage, a nurse, described with red hair.
Allen – leader of Right to Life grup protesting outside the Center, described with florid cheeks and broad belly
Rachel Greenbaum – admin assistant at the Center, described as pink haired.
Vonita – owner of the Center, described as dark skinned with a towering braid of black and red
Mandy Du Ville– a defense lawyer, explicit in text that she is African American.
Willie Cork – an ambitious prosecutor, described as dark haired.
Harriet – a nurse, described with brown eyes.
Graciela – a social worker, described with long beautiful black hair reaching her waist.
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I'd love to hear from you! Have you read this book yet? What are your thoughts about it? Are you a Jodi Picoult fan? Which of her works are your favorites? What other books about abortion would you recommend me to check out?
