This post first published June 9, 2011.
Author: Jodi Picoult
Published: March 2011
Publisher: Atria Books
466 pages (hardcover)
There’s just something about Jodi Picoult books that are so easy to
pick up and read and become immersed in the story, even if the story
isn’t very good. Luckily, however Sing You Home turned out to be quite the interesting novel, a fantastic read and for once — I even liked the ending!
Like with many, if not all, of Picoult’s books, this one is full of
explosive drama, a courtroom battle and children in peril as well (sort
of). The story in Sing You Home involves Zoe and Max Baxter, a
middle aged couple who both have infertility issues. They have been
trying to have a baby for nearly a decade now, and have been using in
vitro fertilization for the past five years. When their last attempt
results in a stillborn child, Zoe wants to keep trying but Max has had
enough. He loves Zoe, but her obsession with having a child has drained
him and he wants a divorce.
After the divorce, the two go on separate paths and realize different
things about themselves. Max starts becoming a heavy drinker, but
thanks to his religious brother and sister-in-law, he finds Jesus and
lets him into his life, becoming a born-again Christian himself. Zoe
befriends Vanessa Shaw, a school counsellor, and their friendship
blossoms into a full-fledged relationship.
After Zoe and Vanessa marry, they decide they want a baby, but of
course, since they are both women, they need to look into other methods.
Zoe remembers her three cryo-frozen embryos leftover from when she and
Max were doing in vitro fertilization and decides she wants to implant
them in Vanessa, who is young, fertile and likely able to carry their
baby to term. When Max is informed, however, he is horrified. As a
devout Christian now, he abhors the idea of a child of his growing up in
a house with two mothers. Instead, he would like to see his “pre-born
children” in the care of his brother and sister-in-law, who have also
been having infertility issues. Thus, the two go to court to battle over
the embryos.
I actually really liked this story. I thought I wouldn’t because at
first the story sounded almost ridiculous, when my sister told me what
it was about. I guess the part that boggled my mind initially was, how
could an agnostic man suddenly become an obsessed Christian practically
overnight and how could a woman who has had never even thought
about other women sexually suddenly become a lesbian overnight? It
sounds kind of sudden, but it somehow works out. Jodi Picoult has a
strange sort of magic when she writes characters; they feel so real to
the reader that whatever happens, it seems like that is the perfect
logical decision for that character to do.
If you’ve ever read any of Picoult’s other books, then you probably
know what I’m talking about when I say this was an addictive read, as
well as one that was able to evoke many emotions, especially regarding
the subject matter. I found it sent a really strong message about the
role of religion (specifically, Christianity) in the acceptance of gays
in society; it’s no secret, to me, which side Picoult sides with, and
she expresses herself with this story. There’s an attempt to give the
Christians a voice in the matter of homosexuality so it doesn’t appear
as if the story is totally one-sided, but they come off as obsessive
religious people instead, to be honest. Kind of unfair, I guess, since I
know not all Christians are crazy obsessive.
Particularly with the ending, I think that sent the strongest message
of all. Now, if you’ve ever read one of my blog posts regarding a Jodi
Picoult book before, you’d know that typically I end up despising the
ending of her books. I don’t know what it is, but somehow she always
seems to end her books with an ending that makes me want to bang my head
against a wall twenty times. Not this time though. I actually thought
the ending was very fitting with the direction the book was heading in,
and I was a satisfied reader at the end.
The one thing that drove me crazy about this book was the timeline.
Max and Zoe have the stillborn, get divorced, go their separate ways and
find their new lives, Zoe gets remarried, they go to court and battle
it out … all in a matter of about five or six months. That’s really
weird to me, and just seems way too fast. I live in Canada so I don’t
know about American laws, much less the individual laws of each state,
but don’t you have to separate for at least a year before officially
divorcing? Not only that, but Zoe meets Vanessa, moves in together and
gets married within two months, and they decide to have
children? Holy moly, talk about moving fast in a relationship,
especially considering how Zoe just got out of a nine year marriage!
Lastly, somehow I doubt a court case such as this would only take a few
months to settle, especially considering how big of a deal it was made
in the book (media coverage and crazy reporters and everything). The
time was the one thing in this book that really bothered me, but I think
Picoult had to rush things because frozen embryos don’t stay frozen
forever, only about a year or so, and they are the whole point of the
plot.
Okay, I lied; there’s one more thing that bothered me about the story
and it was Max’s relationship with his sister-in-law, Liddy. It just
seemed totally left-field and unnecessary, but as it was a really minor
part of the story, I’m not going to let it bother me too much.
I didn’t bother with the soundtrack CD that came with the book, so I
can’t comment on the accompanying music, but overall, the book was a
great read and sends strong messages about not only religion and
homosexuality, but about family and love as well.
My Rating:4.5/5
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