Book Review -- "Sing You Home" by Jodi Picoult

 This book deeply affected me.

My son was born via in vitro and ICSI. My husband and I were very, very fortunate and only had to go through one cycle, but I could completely empathize with the main character's many shots, invasive procedures, and heartbreaks. It was a trying time for me, and I wouldn't want to go through it again - it's why my husband and I made the conscious decision to only try once.


This book deals with what happens when a husband and wife divorce and frozen embryos are left to be fought over as "property". It's a horrible, sad court room drama with much more involved than just the right of one parent verus another -- and I won't go into that here because I feel it would give away too much of the story.


I will say that Picoult brings up religion, something I rarely talk about. In this case, one side has gone over to a highly polarized church that preaches hate and intolerance of anything but what they choose to pull out of the Bible for convenience's sake. The vileness of the Westboro Baptist Church comes to play and I'm sickened to the bone at just the mention of their name (not just because of their general philosophy, but because they threatened to picket a friend's military funeral -- and wisely chose not to show up).


I am a Christian. I have a deep faith in God. But I do NOT believe in a God who would be as cruel and vile as some of the filth that comes out of the mouths of some of the characters in "Sing You Home". I'm quite certain I'll have dissenters to my opinion, and that's completely ok. I'm open to mature discourse, but not to screaming or damning speech. And that's what I think is wrong with religion today -- the inability for communication between differing opinions. Picoult makes a good show of that, whether she meant to or not.


Like most of her books, this is a tough one. However, for me, it was a page-turner, and left me thinking.

Lori Anderson creates jewelry for her web site, Lori Anderson Designs, and wrote the blog An Artist's Year Off.  She's also a contributor to Art Bead Scene.  She is also the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party.