CHANGE OF HEART
Jodi Picoult
Atria Books
Fiction
ISBN: 9780743496742

• Read an Excerpt
• Author Talk –– March 7, 2008

“Every inmate is someone’s child. And so is every victim.”

How do you balance the scales so that justice is served yet society retains its compassion? One reply: It may not be when we want or how we want, but eventually God evens the score.

As a wife and mother, June Nealon has already lost so much, and she is now in danger of losing even more --- her daughter, Claire. Hanging on by literally a heartbeat, Claire is running out of time. Organ donors can be hard to come by under the best of circumstances. Add in all the factors that make Claire a tougher match still, then consider her youth, and the pool of hearts available to this little girl for transplant is almost nonexistent. The doctor calls, and June rushes Claire to the hospital only to be told once again that something has happened to disqualify the donor. When a volunteer --- an actual volunteer --- comes forward, knowing he will die soon, he is wrong in so many ways to be the one who saves Claire’s life. But he is also right in so many ways. And Claire’s options are nearly at an end.

Shay Bourne sits on death row as New Hampshire’s only inmate convicted of a crime so heinous that the jury voted to execute him. He has a history of aberrant behavior, stemming from the time he was a foster child on up through a troubled adulthood. That may go a ways to explain his learning disorder, a condition that threatens his ability to make himself understood. Or maybe he is just antisocial. His foster mom has nothing kind to say about Shay. He has no friends. There is a sister somewhere, but she never visits him. Looking at the overall picture, it seems that he is a rare bad seed. Bad seed or misunderstood messiah, as those around him soon discover, Shay Bourne is undeniably rare.

Father Michael steps forward as Shay’s spiritual advisor. The priest’s stated goal, naturally, is to save Shay’s soul, but he has another reason for wanting to counsel this particular prisoner. And it’s very personal. The more he’s around Shay, the more he begins to doubt his view of organized religion, and his opinion of Shay, for Shay displays some remarkable talents.

Champion of death penalty opposition, ACLU attorney Maggie Bloom bulls her way into Shay’s life, hoping to save it. She struggles with the law, the system, the victim, the state of New Hampshire, and even Father Michael. But none of these battles is her biggest challenge; her client is.

Shay Bourne, the man sparking all the controversy, polarizes the church, the ACLU and the prison staff during his final weeks on this earth. Inmates, guards, attorneys, priests, protestors, supporters and zealots find themselves rethinking their staunchest opinions. It is a time of looking inward. For some, it brings revelation; for others, crisis. No one walks away from a brush with Shay Bourne unchanged.

CHANGE OF HEART is hands down Jodi Picoult’s most thought-provoking novel to date. You may not believe in the death penalty, or you may scoff at religion, but you cannot deny the astonishing power this story holds. It will force you to look at the issues from all sides. Tough and gritty, yet poignant, I defy anyone to get through this book without crying --- at least half a dozen times. That’s how emotionally compelling it is.

    --- Reviewed by Kate Ayers

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