A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult: The Most Timely Book

Wow. There could not be a more timely time to read this book than now.

A Spark of Light is definitely one of my favorite books of the year- I couldn't tell you if this book or The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is my favorite book of the year.

This book is centered around the abortion debate in America, and it follows a large cast of characters with conflicting view points on the issue. Essentially, the novel takes place in Mississippi at a women's health clinic. A man walks into the clinic and opens fire, taking hostages. A man named Hugh, a police hostage negotiator, is called to the scene, wherein he receives a message from his teenage daughter, Wren, saying that she is inside the clinic. Wren is not alone, and she and Hugh are not the only perspectives we hear from in this novel: a nurse who takes charge to save a wounded woman, a woman who has come to the clinic to have her pregnancy terminated, a pro-life protester disguised as a patient, the doctor who performs abortions, and the shooter himself. The book is told in an interesting format; the novel takes place over the course of one day, with flashbacks that tell us what brought these people to the clinic. But is starts at 5pm and counts back down to 8am. In short, the book is told in reverse order.

And it was absolutely fantastic. Jodi Picoult clearly has her own opinion, but she does a really nice job of giving a voice to both sides of the issue. I made sure to have sticky tabs on hand because I was constantly coming upon passages that I wanted to tab. This book will make you think, it will make you cry, and it will make you scared, mainly because of the times we are living in.

This is a very character driven novel, and I was equally fascinated by all of the characters. However, interestingly enough, my favorite character was one of the male characters: Dr. Louie Ward, a religious African-American doctor who performs abortions not in spite of his fate, but because of it, and who risks his life performing legal abortions in the deep south. I found him to be so intelligent, so insightful, and so lovable. His character also makes sure that the racial debate surrounding abortion is touched upon, which I think is something that isn't discussed enough within the abortion debate. I just want to give a few quotes from him:

"There was only one reason he got out of his car every damn morning: the women he treated, who had to walk through that same gauntlet. How could he be any less brave than they were?"

"Whether or not you believed a fetus was a human being, there was no question in anyone's mind that a grown woman was one. Even if you placed a moral value on that fetus, you couldn't give it rights unless they were stripped away from the woman carrying it. Perhaps the question wasn't When does a fetus become a person? but when does a woman stop becoming one?" 

"You know, I consider myself pro-life, I just happen to be pro-the-life-of-the-woman. I'd call you pro-birth... No one is forcing women to have abortions if they don't want them. It's the difference between supporting free will and negating free will... we can't make policies based on religion when religion means different things to different people. Which leaves science. The science of reproduction is what it is. Conception is conception. You can decide the ethical value that has for you, based on your own relationship with God... but the policies around basic human rights shouldn't be up for interpretation...your religion should help you make the decision if you find yourself in that situation. But the policy should exist for you to have the right to make it in the first place. when you say you can't do something because your religion forbids it, that's a good thing. When you say I can't do something because your religion forbids it, that's a problem."


In addition to Dr. Ward, I also really loved Joy, the character who has just had her pregnancy terminated. She is so raw, and so relatable, and she really portrays the fact that no woman wants to have an abortion. She said the following, and I thought it was just so intelligent: "All that legal protection you want for the unborn? Great. Give it to them. But only if you can find a way not to take it away from me."

Women's reproductive rights is one of the most important political issues to me personally, so I had really high expectations, particularly when an acclaimed author decides to take it on in a novelized format. And this book exceeded my expectations and is a new favorite, and I really hope people in this country pick it up right now. I think I started this book the day Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court, and while I read it very quickly, there were times where I had to put this book down because it reminded me of a future for women that shouldn't be possible but quite frankly is, at this point in time.

Rating: 5/5 Stars