A Spark of Light: The heart-stopping must-read from No.1 Sunday Times Bestseller!

by Jodi Picoult

THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'A writer the world needs to be reading right now' The Independent

'An apposite and nuanced novel... Picoult writes about an emotive, controversial issue with unflinching precision.' Red

'Incredibly compelling and page turning' Dolly Alderton

'A very special novel about a very difficult subject.' Grazia

'Her intelligent, meticulously researched novels explore ethical dilemmas through heartrending, headline-grabbing scenarios' The Sunday Times

A lone gunman takes the women and doctors at a controversial abortion clinic hostage. Nobody has ended up there by choice.

As the tense negotiation for their release unfolds, hour by crucial hour, back in time through the day that brought the hostages and their captor to this moment, every certainty is questioned, every judgement thrown into sharp relief.

Because matters of life and death look very different when you, or the ones you love, are staring down the barrel of a gun . . .

Powerful, thought-provoking and deeply involving, Jodi Picoult's new novel is told in reverse, propelling the reader through intertwining characters and uncovering motives in this unflinching exploration of what makes a life.

Read what everyone's saying about A SPARK OF LIGHT:

Jodi Picoult is a master of words. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I couldn't put this book down.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I don't know how I can wait another year for the her next book.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Loved every minute of it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I shall be going back to read it again!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• ISBN10: 1444788167
• ISBN13: 9781444788167
• Publish Date: 22 August 2019 (first published 2 October 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Imprint: Hodder Paperback
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[bumblingbookworm]

This review was originally posted on The Bumbling Bookworm

Picoult has been an auto-buy author for me over the years, despite the fact that it's been almost 10 years since I last read one of her books.  I decided to pick this up as part of my project to read all the books on my physical TBR, to see if Picoult is still an author I want to read.  Unfortunately, the answer to that is no and I've given all her books to my mum because I know she'll enjoy them.  On a positive note, I felt that she dealt with the sensitive and still controversial topic of abortions quite well, and the author's note at the end of the book makes it clear that this book was very well researched, with a lot of effort put into it.

Picoult remains the master of weaving together a complex story, but unfortunately this felt too clinical for me and I don't think that a story about such an emotive subject should feel so clinical.  On top of that, I really didn't enjoy the reverse-timeline method, where the story is told from the end to the beginning - it loses all intrigue for me and doesn't make me want to pick up the book as a result.  This is the second book I've read with this format and I disliked it in both.  I also picked the 'twist' pretty much straight away, and wasn't at all impacted when it was revealed.  This book was solidly written but ultimately not for me.