Change of Heart: A Novel by Jodi Picoult

Change of Heart: A Novel by Jodi Picoult is a real page-turner about a mother’s struggle with a decision that must rock her belief system in order to save her child

My Book Review Rating: 5 stars, another Picoult masterpiece – gripping from the first word to the last!

I picked up a copy of Change of Heart ahead of my nine hour flight to Orlando because Picoult always delivers on page-turners that keep me occupied and intrigued from cover to cover – this one didn’t dissapoint!

In the normal Picoult style this novel is told from the point of view of several different characters; from June – the mother who has survived the heartbreak of losing her husband and eldest daughter to murder, and must then face losing her youngest daughter to heart disease, Michael – a priest who finds himself providing spiritual support to a man he committed to death row and Maggie, a young lawyer who is looking to make her mark on the world.

It’s gripping, it’s heart wrenching, it’s enlightening, it’s enjoyable, it’s an edge-of-your-seat morality tale – and you should should definitely read it yourself!

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The acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author presents a spellbinding tale of a mother's tragic loss and one man's last chance at gaining salvation.

Can we save ourselves, or do we rely on others to do it? Is what we believe always the truth?

One moment June Nealon was happily looking forward to years full of laughter and adventure with her family, and the next, she was staring into a future that was as empty as her heart. Now her life is a waiting game. Waiting for time to heal her wounds, waiting for justice. In short, waiting for a miracle to happen.

For Shay Bourne, life holds no more surprises. The world has given him nothing, and he has nothing to offer the world. In a heartbeat, though, something happens that changes everything for him. Now, he has one last chance for salvation, and it lies with June's eleven-year-old daughter, Claire. But between Shay and Claire stretches an ocean of bitter regrets, past crimes, and the rage of a mother who has lost her child.

Would you give up your vengeance against someone you hate if it meant saving someone you love? Would you want your dreams to come true if it meant granting your enemy's dying wish?

Once again, Jodi Picoult mesmerizes and enthralls readers with this story of redemption, justice, and love.

ISBN13: 9780743496759
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

When You Question Your Beliefs...

Review Date: April 14, 2008

Reviewer: Tamela Mccann, Nashville, TN USA

Convicted murderers are sentenced to be executed on a regular basis in the United States; after many appeals and much time, some actually do face the final steps to their deaths in payment for their crimes. Whether or not you agree with this method of punishment, you will find much to ponder in Jodi Picoult's Change of Heart as you follow Shay Bourne, convicted of murdering a 7 year old girl and her stepfather, as he faces death and hope of compensation for the sister of the girl left behind.

Picoult brings us a rich tableau of characters in Change of Heart, not all of them likeable. We have Shay, who has committed this unspeakable crime, yet seems to have some mystical powers; Father Michael, Shay's spiritual advisor who was the deciding vote to sentence him to death on his jury eleven years before; Maggie, the ACLU lawyer who feels allowing Shay to die as he wants will spotlight the wrongs of the death penalty; June, the mother who lost her husband and daughter in a heinous way and whose daughter Claire, born after the deaths of her sister and father, is now slowly slipping away from a defective heart. Shay wants to donate his heart to Claire in order to somehow make up for the losses but lethal injection won't allow him to, so he's asking for hanging instead. But does he even deserve to die? What of the "miracles" he's performing from his cell? And would Claire and June even want the heart of their loved ones' killer?

Picoult takes a sensitive subject and embues it with excellent research on the origins of Christianity as well as believable characters with their own crises of faith. The action moves along well, and there is, of course, a Picoult trademark twist or two. Though the story does borrow from Stephen King's The Green Mile, it is so thought-provoking and well researched that the comparisons are superficial. I will be thinking about this one for a long time, and that, I am sure, was Ms. Picoult's goal in the first place. Highly recommended.

~taminator40

Salvation or Revenge, that is the Question

Review Date: August 28, 2008

Reviewer: Vesta Irene, the Pacific Northwest

June lost her husband in an auto accident that left her with a broken leg. The police officer, Kurt Nealon, who tells her of her husband's death, later becomes husband number two and stepfather to June's daughter. Life should be good for June now as she's expecting another daughter. But she's hired a handyman carpenter, thirty-three-year old Isaiah M. Bourne, who instead of being grateful for the work, kills Kurt, then molests and kills June's daughter.

Eleven years later, Bourne is on death row and wants to make amends by donating his heart to June's new daughter Elizabeth, who is suffering with pediatric dilated cardiomyopathy. He believes if he gives his heart to the dying sister of the girl he murdered that he'll find salvation, which is the last thing June wants, but she doesn't want Elizabeth to die either.

And even though Bourne wants to die, he needs an attorney, because he wants death by hanging, not the needle, as that would damage the heart. His attorney, a woman with her own problems, has more than a client who wants salvation on her hands as weird and strange things have been going on on death row. One day the prison taps started flowing with wine. Borne brings a dead bird back to life. He cures a fellow prisoner of aids. Is there a message in his name which when pronounced comes out as I Am Born? And he is a thirty-three-year old carpenter about to be put to death, what is the significance of that?

There are man who come to believe Bourne might just be the Messiah, including Father Michael, his spiritual advisor, who, before he became a priest, just happened to be one of the jurors who voted to condemn Bourne.

As you can see there is a lot going on in this book and I've just scratched the surface. Suffice it to say, as improbable and impossible as some of this sounds, when Jodi Picoult delivers it, you believe. I know I did. I couldn't put this one down and even now, I'm asking myself, what would I do were I June, let the killer have his salvation or let him save my daughter?

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

Change of Heart

Review Date: March 22, 2008

Reviewer: Chelsie, Necedah, WI

Shay Bourne was convicted of killing a seven-year-old girl, Elizabeth, and a police officer,Kurt; and he was sentenced to death.

Eleven years later, with his execution date coming up, he wants his heart to be given to Elizabeth's sister, who has a deadly illness that requires her to need a new heart, otherwise she would die.

This book, in true Jodi Picoult fashion, was absolutely amazing. Not only did it have perfect characters who grew and changed throughout the story, but from the very beginning there left a question begging to be asked: Why did Shay kill Elizabeth and Kurt in the first place? The whole book focuses around Shay and his fight for his execution to allow him to donate his heart, and the growing evidence that Shay could be some sort of religious figure from the past.

Jodi Picoult has the perfect blend of serious issues and lighter topics, and once again she delivers a novel that makes fiction sound believeable. I have yet to read a Picoult novel that I have not cried at least once, and this was no exception. Fans of her other novels will flock to this book, and new readers will definitely be wanting more.