Safe to say this book tore me up. This is an incredibly tough read, and so necessary... everyone (wherever your politics are) should pick this up and not to sensationalize the topic of abortion or gun violence, but rather to force oneself into addressing any false preconceptions held and opening up one’s mind to the opinions of "them", whoever they are.
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As a country we'll never be able to move forward and heal our division until we're at least able to have a conversation about the “tough stuff”. I am so appreciative of Picoult's daring to write such an engaging story about how varying the life of a woman can be.
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It's 5pm: a gunman who stormed into The Center, the last clinic providing abortions in Mississippi, is releasing the remaining hostages, except for one. That one happens to be the 15-year-old daughter of the police's crisis negotiator on the scene. His next move will determine whether or not he takes the shooter into custody and if he'll get his daughter back alive. The tensions are high because both men just found out that each of their daughters had visited The Center behind their backs. Though the book goes backward in time, counting down to the hour before the shooting starts, there is just enough withheld to assure that there is plenty more to be discovered as the clock ticks back. And though the mental images of the scene of the shooting are horrendous, the most grueling passages might be those where the pasts of the trapped women were divulged.
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Picoult delivered bold facts about current procedure in the US for women seeking abortions, and expertly straddled the line, not truly picking a "side", instead choosing to present viewpoints many of us may not usually encounter and letting the voices of the characters speak for her.