Lone Wolf

"Lone Wolf" by Jodi Picoult is by far one of the best books I have ever read. I love Jodi Picoult's writing in general because she gets this aspect of suspense in every book. I usually tend to go for the complicated plot, multiple perspective/ narrator kind of book and this has it all. The book is from the perspective of Edward (the son), Cara (the daughter), Georgie (the ex-wife/mother), Joe (husband of Georgie), and Luke (the father/ex-husband). The story is about Luke, he is in the hospital after having been in a car accident with his daughter, Cara. Luke has serious brain damage and the family is trying to decide whether to let him go or keep him on life support. Edward thinks that they should let him go and Cara doesn't. It ends up as an entire court case over who can be Luke's legal guardian. I really just love this multiple narration and I really want to try it sometime, I'm going to try to explain how Jodi Picoult made it work. I'm really sorry if this blog post gets a little complicated, but I'll do my best.

First on Luke's parts of the story. The parts of the story that Luke tells are usually flashbacks- moments from his childhood or from when he was a young adult. there are a couple more recent ones but they are never about the complete present. Luke is currently brain dead so he can't talk about whats going on right "now". Luke is the "Wolf Man" he spent two years living in the wild with a pack of wolves that he got to accept him. I love the parts of the stories when he's talking about being with the wolves because it's such an amazing thing to think about. It just really gets your imagination going. It was really smart of the author to use this character for flashbacks because it's convenient and it makes sense. When things are going on in the present that requires too much background information then the author just puts in a chapter about what they were discussing.

For the chapters where either Georgie or Joe are narrating its great to get an extra perspective. Georgie is the mother figure so you can really get into the characters head and understand the instincts that make her support one of her children in court instead of the other. I'm pretty sure there's a lot of people out there that would love to know whats going on in their parents head and these parts of the story gives you a good idea. I haven't read many books that include a desperate mother having to choose between her children. So its really interesting to hear about it. I think one of the really great things about Georgie is that she's really unlike anyone else in the book.

For Joe's chapters the authors vast knowledge of law finally makes its appearance. One of the great things about Jodi Picoult is that she can incorporate this really interesting perspective about  court. Joe is a lawyer and he is defending Edward in court. Here the author is able to explain terms and how requirements work and certain sentences and trials and all of that criminal justice info. You might think that it would be super confusing to read but it really isn't. The court scenes add a specific urgency to the story. There are parts where its so realistic that you feel you're actually in the court room and you can hear the constant "Objection!"

I'm going to put the purposes of Edward and Cara's sections together. In any good multiple narration story you have to have the two people that are on different sides. I think that's what makes it the most interesting, getting to hear both people's side to a story. I think a great example of this is a scene where Cara see's Edward's action as cruel and evil and Edward views them as merciful and right. The best part is that you can agree on both sides - yeah it did seem heartless but it was really done out of love.

In conclusion, multiple narration is part of what made this a great book. I've learned how Jodi Picoult succeeded at multiple narration. For one, use the character to its full extent. If it's a person who's a genius than have them explain some amazing stuff. If its a person with a very strong belief then explain that belief and why they have it. Also, try to get some of the narrators on opposite sides of something because it can make it really interesting. Lastly, make sure that the characters are all very different and unique so that their perspective on something can be special and not already stated. Loved this book, love this author, if you like complicated plots then definitely try this book.