Leah
Written on Apr 3, 2011
I’m a huge fan of Jodi Picoult. Her novels make me question a lot of things and her books even teach me things I would otherwise have never have known of. For example, with her last book House Rules, I had no idea about Asperger’s syndrome but reading that book was a real experience and eye-opener. When she decides what to base her novels on, she doesn’t hold back and really gets to the heart of the topics of her novels. And while if you read all her novels in one go, you might find them formulaic, staggering them out means that they aren’t formulaic at all. Sing You Home is one that intrigued me from the word go: I knew Jodi had a son who had recently come out as gay and all you seem to see in the news is same-sex couples fighting to have the same rights as heterosexual couples and although the book is a bit religious, I do believe it was necessary to present the story in the way it was presented and surprisingly, I found myself thoroughly absorbed in the novel.
I’m not entirely sure where to start with my review – do I start with the religion or with the same-sex relationship between Zoe and Vanessa. Actually, I’ll start at the beginning. Sing You Home, at the beginning of the novel, introduces us to Zoe Baxter. Happily married to Max, even more happily pregnant, and happy in her job as a music therapist. Until during her baby shower, it all goes wrong for her and it ends sans baby and sans Max. Which brings us to Vanessa, who is a friend of Zoe’s and as they spend more and more time together, they develop feelings for each other. Now I’m no expert on same-sex relationships, but I do firmly believe you love who you love. Who am I to tell someone that a woman loving a woman or a man loving a man is wrong? I felt Picoult handled the relationship between Zoe and Vanessa beautifully.
A lot has been levied at Jodi that she’s written the book with an agenda, and I myself can see that. Her son is gay and is having to be gay in a world where same-sex marriage is continually slammed. Where same-sex marriage is only just becoming legal in all states in America, and I must admit, I am ignorant on whether same-sex couples can have kids, because it’s not something I generally need to know. Does that make me a bad person for not knowing? No, I don’t think so. The two different stories in the novel are a huge contrast to each other, you have Zoe and Vanessa, happy together and wanting to cement their love with a baby and then you have Max and his Church being 100% against Zoe’s plans to have a baby. And while the religious stuff is something I am also ignorant about, it didn’t feel patronising at all and I could see that the religion had to be in the novel because it’s what the other side were basing their defence on – that because the bible says a same-sex couple can’t be together or have kids, then that’s how the law should see it, too.
As well as having a natural affinity for storytelling, Picoult is also really brilliant at giving us characters we care about. For the entire novel I was on Zoe and Vanessa’s side. Zoe’s infertility struggles and having carried a baby for so long for it to end in tragedy were heart-rending as was Vanessa’s struggle to be accepted as a lesbian. Then of course there’s their struggle against Max to try and get Zoe’s frozen embryos so Vanessa can carry Zoe’s child so they can have a family. All of that swirled together and I truly felt for Zoe and Vanessa. Any sympathy I might have had for Max, after all he had lost babies too, disappeared as the book progressed. Obviously as a born-again Christian, he thought he was doing the right thing, but to be honest, it just seemed as if he was being pushed by his Priest. And the lack of backbone rankled with me, because he never actually stood up to say what he wanted. He just repeated what he was told to say.
My favourite part of the novel, by far, was seeing Zoe’s day job. She’s a music therapist and I thought it was so beautiful that we got to see her in action, playing to people with Cancer, to people with rapidly declining health and to a girl desperate to die. I thought the musical backdrop was beautiful. As much as I do think Jodi wrote this novel for the reason, I was hugely impressed with it all the same. It’s very much a relevant topic, something that’s still ongoing as same-sex couples continually try to get the rights they deserve and it’s very on point. I absolutely loved reading the novel, although I found Max’s narratives a bit harder to take to as I just couldn’t warm to him. The novel is accompanied by a soundtrack, which I haven’t listened to (I can’t read and listen to music at the same time) but I do think that’s a brilliant touch. I didn’t expect to enjoy Sing You Home as much as I did, but it says it all about Jodi Picoult abilities that the book touched me the way it did, despite my pre-conceived notions.