Change of Heart: A Novel
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.
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Community Reviews
Read one book to discover I'm not a Picoult fan. Very simple, no depth; however, I'll give her credit for her research in religion for this book. That was the only thing I found interesting.
How do we achieve redemption? What role does forgiveness play in the process? Are some acts simply too abhorrent to be forgiven? Who decides — individuals or society? How expansive might your capacity to forgive be if the life of your child were hanging in the balance? Those are just some of the moral dilemmas Jodi Picoult asks readers to ponder in Change of Heart.
Shay Bourne is not fighting to have his sentence overturned. On the contrary, he has accepted his fate. But he is determined to donate his heart to Clare, ostensibly as a means of atoning for murdering her father and sister. He is adamant that he will be unable to rest in peace unless he is permitted to do so. His seemingly miraculous acts — including bringing a dead bird back to life — lend credence to his sincerity and cause those around him to begin questioning everything they have ever believed about religion, faith, and the path to heaven.
This is especially true of Father Michael whose past history with Shay, coupled with his current role as Shay’s spiritual advisor, brings into question his belief in the teachings of the Catholic Church and the strength of his faith. He was never comfortable with his vote as a juror, so plagued for the past eleven years by guilt and uncertainty that he is willing to violate ethical principles applicable both to the Priesthood and the legal system in order to counsel Shay now. His doubts lead him to search for answers to a variety of questions pertaining to Shay’s behavior, his knowledge of the arcane Gnostic gospels, and whether Shay is truly capable of performing divinely inspired miracles. Gnostic Christians believe that spiritual enlightenment is achieved not by good works, adherence to religious tenets or belief in Jesus as the Savior. Rather, they believe that Jesus serves merely as a guide to spiritual fulfillment because everyone is a divine part of God and must find his/her own path to salvation through questioning rather than obedience. Their secret texts were not included in the Bible because they were deemed heretic by Biblical scholars. For example, the Gospel of Thomas teaches, in part: “If you bring forth what is within you, what is within you will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what is within you will destroy you.” Shay interprets that verse to direct him to donate his heart to Clare.
Maggie Bloom is the professed atheist daughter of a rabbi who also finds herself questioning not just her beliefs, but her motives, as she prepares to present Shay’s case. She argues that his right to the free exercise of his religion deprives the State of New Hampshire from authority to carry out the death sentence by lethal injection, given that Shay would be denied the right to donate his heart. She must not only convince the court that Shay sincerely ascribes to a specific religious ideal. She must also offer the judge a workable alternative method by which the death sentence can be carried out. Picoult’s reputation for meticulously researching her subject is secure as she provides a thoroughly convincing and believable description of Maggie’s quest and findings, including a charming doctor who offers to assist with the case.
In her signature style, Picoult asks readers to contemplate their own feelings about complex subjects ranging from the death penalty, to what it means to be a person of faith, to how one achieves salvation (assuming, of course, that it is even needed or desired), to the lengths to which a parent is willing to go to save his/her child. As is often the case in Picoult’s stories, there is an epic legal battle with a ruling that has enormous implications both for the characters and readers. Also in typical Picoult fashion, the plot twists are not only surprising, they also force her readers to reconsider the events and their factual bases that have transpired up to that point because it seems inconceivable that nothing was actually as it seemed. The characters, their fate, and the issues Picoult probes remain with the reader long after reading the conclusion.
“And if I could ask people to take away one thing from my book it would be this: to stop thinking of beliefs as absolutes . . .and to see them instead as an invitation to have a conversation, and maybe learn something from someone else’s point of view,” Picoult says. Once again, I find myself highly recommending her work. Change of Heart is an absorbing, thought-provoking examination of the criminal justice system, religion, spirituality, parental love and obligation, and the power of forgiveness.
Shay Bourne is not fighting to have his sentence overturned. On the contrary, he has accepted his fate. But he is determined to donate his heart to Clare, ostensibly as a means of atoning for murdering her father and sister. He is adamant that he will be unable to rest in peace unless he is permitted to do so. His seemingly miraculous acts — including bringing a dead bird back to life — lend credence to his sincerity and cause those around him to begin questioning everything they have ever believed about religion, faith, and the path to heaven.
This is especially true of Father Michael whose past history with Shay, coupled with his current role as Shay’s spiritual advisor, brings into question his belief in the teachings of the Catholic Church and the strength of his faith. He was never comfortable with his vote as a juror, so plagued for the past eleven years by guilt and uncertainty that he is willing to violate ethical principles applicable both to the Priesthood and the legal system in order to counsel Shay now. His doubts lead him to search for answers to a variety of questions pertaining to Shay’s behavior, his knowledge of the arcane Gnostic gospels, and whether Shay is truly capable of performing divinely inspired miracles. Gnostic Christians believe that spiritual enlightenment is achieved not by good works, adherence to religious tenets or belief in Jesus as the Savior. Rather, they believe that Jesus serves merely as a guide to spiritual fulfillment because everyone is a divine part of God and must find his/her own path to salvation through questioning rather than obedience. Their secret texts were not included in the Bible because they were deemed heretic by Biblical scholars. For example, the Gospel of Thomas teaches, in part: “If you bring forth what is within you, what is within you will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what is within you will destroy you.” Shay interprets that verse to direct him to donate his heart to Clare.
Maggie Bloom is the professed atheist daughter of a rabbi who also finds herself questioning not just her beliefs, but her motives, as she prepares to present Shay’s case. She argues that his right to the free exercise of his religion deprives the State of New Hampshire from authority to carry out the death sentence by lethal injection, given that Shay would be denied the right to donate his heart. She must not only convince the court that Shay sincerely ascribes to a specific religious ideal. She must also offer the judge a workable alternative method by which the death sentence can be carried out. Picoult’s reputation for meticulously researching her subject is secure as she provides a thoroughly convincing and believable description of Maggie’s quest and findings, including a charming doctor who offers to assist with the case.
In her signature style, Picoult asks readers to contemplate their own feelings about complex subjects ranging from the death penalty, to what it means to be a person of faith, to how one achieves salvation (assuming, of course, that it is even needed or desired), to the lengths to which a parent is willing to go to save his/her child. As is often the case in Picoult’s stories, there is an epic legal battle with a ruling that has enormous implications both for the characters and readers. Also in typical Picoult fashion, the plot twists are not only surprising, they also force her readers to reconsider the events and their factual bases that have transpired up to that point because it seems inconceivable that nothing was actually as it seemed. The characters, their fate, and the issues Picoult probes remain with the reader long after reading the conclusion.
“And if I could ask people to take away one thing from my book it would be this: to stop thinking of beliefs as absolutes . . .and to see them instead as an invitation to have a conversation, and maybe learn something from someone else’s point of view,” Picoult says. Once again, I find myself highly recommending her work. Change of Heart is an absorbing, thought-provoking examination of the criminal justice system, religion, spirituality, parental love and obligation, and the power of forgiveness.
Jodi Picoult has once again tackled a moral dilemma. Up for debate this time is whether the mother of a girl in need of a heart transplant should accept the heart of the man who will be executed for the murder of her husband and older daughter. And if Picoult had stuck to one dilemma, this might have been a better book. Instead, the book is complicated by Green Mile-like questions of whether the condemned man had the power to perform miracles and a Dead Man Walking-like last-hour relationship between the death row inmate and a priest.
In typical Picoult fashion, there is no clear right and wrong in this story. Shay Bourne, the convicted man, does not really contest his conviction, or his sentence. He simply insists that he must be allowed to donate his heart afterward, despite the fact that being executed by lethal injection would make this impossible. Enter an ACLU lawyer, with issues of her own, who's determined to get Bourne executed in a way that would allow for his heart to be taken, and, by so doing, turn a spotlight on the inhumanity of the death penalty.
Her argument is that Bourne's religion requires that he be allowed to donate his heart in order for him to find salvation. Here is where the issue of his "miracles" come in. When he supposedly makes wine flow from the taps in the prison, divides a single piece of gum among 7 men, and heals the prisoner in the next cell who is dying of AIDS, word leaks out and people flock to the prison gates, proclaiming the Second Coming. Naturally, there are an equal number on the other side who think he's a fraud or even the devil. Whatever the truth of the matter is, and we're left wondering, Maggie Bloom, the ACLU lawyer, uses these "miracles" and some of Bourne's own words to try to convince the court that he belongs to a religion, even if he's the only member of it, that requires organ donation as necessary to salvation. And here I have to give Picoult credit: what other popular author manages to work the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) into a novel?!
Although well written as all of Picoult's books are, the multiple threads and questions keep this one from being as good as it ought to have been. Hopefully, in her next book she will go back to presenting us with a with just one moral dilemma, as she has done so well so many times before.
In typical Picoult fashion, there is no clear right and wrong in this story. Shay Bourne, the convicted man, does not really contest his conviction, or his sentence. He simply insists that he must be allowed to donate his heart afterward, despite the fact that being executed by lethal injection would make this impossible. Enter an ACLU lawyer, with issues of her own, who's determined to get Bourne executed in a way that would allow for his heart to be taken, and, by so doing, turn a spotlight on the inhumanity of the death penalty.
Her argument is that Bourne's religion requires that he be allowed to donate his heart in order for him to find salvation. Here is where the issue of his "miracles" come in. When he supposedly makes wine flow from the taps in the prison, divides a single piece of gum among 7 men, and heals the prisoner in the next cell who is dying of AIDS, word leaks out and people flock to the prison gates, proclaiming the Second Coming. Naturally, there are an equal number on the other side who think he's a fraud or even the devil. Whatever the truth of the matter is, and we're left wondering, Maggie Bloom, the ACLU lawyer, uses these "miracles" and some of Bourne's own words to try to convince the court that he belongs to a religion, even if he's the only member of it, that requires organ donation as necessary to salvation. And here I have to give Picoult credit: what other popular author manages to work the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) into a novel?!
Although well written as all of Picoult's books are, the multiple threads and questions keep this one from being as good as it ought to have been. Hopefully, in her next book she will go back to presenting us with a with just one moral dilemma, as she has done so well so many times before.
This is the first book I've read from this author and her style of writing has got me hooked. Her books are very quick reads that keep you interested with thought provoking topics. If however you are looking for anything more than entertainment and an in depth study on these topics, don't look here. I enjoy her books tremendously, but they always leave me wanting more in depth on something that was touched on in the book.
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