Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Picoult has never flinched back from the most difficult of topics. Her books heads directly into controversy which are backed with meticulous scholarship. In "The Story Teller", Sage has been asked to forgive a recent friend for his past as a Nazi. And he wants her to kill him. Sage is Jewish, descended from victims of the camps. She lives quietly with her own secrets and with her scar which she considers disfiguring. She rarely lets people inside her mental walls. The story is narrated by Sage, by the secret Nazi, and by a mysterious girl living in the forest afraid of great evil. Sage's granmother finally consents to add her own narrative.As you would expect, the writing is accessible and flows evenly. The plot draws us in immediately. The conundrums are complex and insistent. As Picoult notes, "this could be you , too. You think, not I. But at any given moment, we are capable of doing what we least expect." Is this true? I wish I could swear that it is not. But as the survivors and victims of the Holocaust approach death and disappear, the question is a vital one that must be asked. Added to the Holocaust deniers who claim the camps were never true, this is a topic that is imperative. Bearing witness is part of this book, how to mend the world is another. It is easy to dismiss Picoult with her repetitive plot of a family and a narrator pressed heavily with moral decisions. She is a popular writer, the death knell for many critics. But I find her work compelling and I don't mind the repetitive structure. These characters are complex and beautifully drawn. We could pick Sage from a crowd, and not due to her scar. Rather her hiding of her scar makes her distinctive. Josef Weber is the man who has spent his life in New Hampshire has been one of service; but he reveals to Sage a past that is perhaps the ultimate evil. The plot enmeshes the reader in the first few pages, and the ending is far from clear. I need to stop here on that count to avoid spoilers. I respect this book, and am heading off to work mumbling to myself, high praise from me, after a sleepless night of reading. If you love Picoult's work, you will reinforced. If you are new to her writing, you will find a writer who skillfully brings us to our most difficult selves.