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SECOND GLANCE, Jodi Picoult's newest novel, is an extraordinary "genre-hybrid." The confluence of its parts --- ghost story, love story, historical novel, paranormal/supernatural tale --- converges to offer readers a book that roars with superlative dialogue, radiates with interesting characters (alive and dead) and floats in the ether above the mediocre. The elements of redemption, the qualities of love and the definition of family raise questions about integrity, respect, prejudice, memory, medical ethics and "things that go bump in the night."
The book opens with these words: "Ross Wakeman succeeded the first time he killed himself, but not the second or the third." No matter how hard he tries, Ross Wakeman fails to accomplish what he most wants to do with his life --- end it! After the death of his fiancée, eight years in the past, he is still deeply mourning her, which has left him mired in a state of stasis. This inability to move inspires him to become a ghost hunter, a "job" through which he hopes to reconnect with his lost love. Unfortunately, his career is short-lived and he returns to Comtosook, Vermont, where his sister and her son live their strange life. Ross is depressed, frustrated and nursing feelings of failure.
The town of Comtosook is in an uproar since old man Spencer Pike sold a parcel of land to a development company that plans to build a strip mall. Trouble begins as soon as the news reaches the Abenaki Indians, who believe the property is a sacred burial ground. They are committed to save the land of their ancestors and picket the site. "You dig up [our ancestors'] resting place, it stands to reason that whatever you build on here isn't going to be at peace." In order to prove the ground is not sacred in any way, Rod van Vleet, the company representative, hires Ross to find any ghosts lurking there and evict them. Ross reluctantly agrees to get involved and enlists the help of his nephew, Ethan, who suffers from XP (xeroderma pigmentosum: a fatal disease that prohibits exposure to sunlight) and is thus delighted to accompany his uncle on a nighttime stakeout.
During their vigil, Wakeman sees a movement in the woods and, when he follows it, he finds Lia, a very young, very gentle, very frightened, very sad woman whose ethereal aura captures his heart. He simply falls in love. They meet secretly because she is terrified of her husband --- or so she says. From this point on, we enter a "twilight zone" that is at times soulful, disorienting and funny.
Lia's appearance inspires the local sheriff to open an unsolved murder case that dates back to 1932. After her presence has been noted, a host of weird events begins to overtake the town. Rose petals fall like snowflakes, people have trouble discerning the truth from their dreams, the disputed land freezes in August and everyday something new emerges to confound, disturb and bring chaos to the seemingly bucolic town.
In a powerful parallel storyline, we learn about a horrific episode in Vermont's history, events that Picoult explains in her Author's Note: " … the Vermont Eugenics Project in the 1920s and 1930s … is a chapter of history that has only recently been rediscovered and still causes great pain and shame to Vermonters of many different cultural backgrounds." She goes on to explain that her main characters are fictional but the off-stage father of the program, Henry E. Perkins, was a real person. "… He was a professor of zoology at the University of Vermont who originated the Eugenics Survey … in conjunction with his course on heredity. He believed that through research, public education and support for legislation, the growing population of [the state's] most problematic citizens might be reduced. His leadership was instrumental in bringing about the passage of Vermont's Sterilization Law in 1931…." At the time, thirty-three other states had similar laws on their books. But not until after World War II, when Nazi scientists testified at the war crimes trials that the "American eugenics programs were the prototypes of their "racial hygiene plans", did any state even modify these statutes.
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, "at [the] Generra Institute in Maryland, Dr. Meredith Oliver," is [ironically] busy at work "doing pre-implantation genetic diagnosis…." She specializes in separating genes that carry inherited diseases from healthy genes in order for couples to end the genetic defects in their family. Her daughter, Lucy, is an asthmatic eight-year-old who sees ghosts and hears them whisper. She is haunted by visitations that terrify her and Meredith. While she loves her daughter, Meredith is a busy woman who has little patience for what she thinks are simply attention-getting outbursts. The child is cared for by her great grandmother, Ruby, who has secrets of her own.
All of the characters and plot twists in SECOND GLANCE, while seeming to be "out of this world", are surprisingly credible enough to make the complexities of this novel work. This is Jodi Picoult's best book to date. And, for those of you who shiver at the thought of "things that go bump in the night", have no fear --- this ghost story will keep you entertained and at times howling with laughter. Enjoy!
--- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum
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