Sing you home (by Jodi Picoult)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m always slightly apprehensive when I embark on a new (to me) novel by Jodi Picoult. I know it will be well-written, and that it will cover current issues in ways that will make me think. I know, too, that her characters will mostly be three-dimensional, and that there will be a mixture of positive and negative traits in each. But sometimes the stories are very dark, and I find them too tense for my tastes, even though I keep reading. 

I have just finished ‘Sing you home’, and it’s an extremely powerful book. Thankfully the tension is minor, and I found it gripping rather than dark. It’s a controversial book, one that explores some quite divisive issues; yet, as I expected, it’s extremely well done. It's also very thought-provoking. It’s primarily a character-based novel, where relationships of different kinds are explored. 

We meet Zoe in the first chapter, which is told in the first person. We learn that when she was young, she saw her father die, quite suddenly. And we learn that music is very important to her. She works as a music therapist. Amongst others she works with the elderly, with terminally ill children, and sometimes with depressed teenagers. It’s immediately clear that she’s a caring, empathic person who develops a good rapport with her clients, and that she’s quite popular with staff at hospitals and schools. 

Zoe is also 28 weeks pregnant, and about to have a baby shower. She and her husband Max have been trying to have a baby for nine years, and this is the first one that has reached the viability stage. They have had endless rounds of treatment, much of it costing a lot (this is based in the United States) but for the first time Zoe feels able to relax. And then disaster happens… the blurb on the back tells us what will happen, leaving Zoe devastated. Even worse, Max says he has felt sidelined by Zoe’s need to have a baby, and that he can’t take any more. So he moves out. 

The second chapter is told from Max’s perspective. He’s also a believable character, with the extra problem of being an alcoholic, though mostly reformed. He is staying temporarily with his brother Reid and his wife Liddy. He recalls some of the problems of trying to make a baby over the past years, and the stresses it caused him, particularly when he learned that some of the problems were due to him. He feels somehow inadequate, but is now convinced that he does not want to be a father. 

Then the third chapter introduces Vanessa, a school counsellor who knows Zoe slightly through the overlap in their professions. They meet in a swimming pool and have coffee, and quickly become friends. Vanessa, we learn, is gay - but she’s happy to have platonic friendships with women. She values Zoe for her personality and humour and many other things. Vanessa, too, comes across as a caring, likeable person. 

Reid and Liddy are passionate Christians, and when Max experiences a dramatic conversion, it comes across as quite realistic. Their pastor, Clive, is quite a hardline evangelical who believes gay relationships are wrong; he’s even campaigned against them and been part of protests. But he does also make the point that there are many sins, and that most of the people in his church are guilty of things that are just as bad.

There are some interesting legal questions relating to three frozen embryos which had been part of Zoe and Max’s IVF treatment. Indeed, that’s the main topic of the latter part of the book. Neither Max nor Zoe wants them destroyed (as, apparently, should be the default when a couple divorces). Zoe wants them in her new relationship, which Max believes is wrong. Max wants them for someone else…

There are many interesting detours into the laws of different states in the US, as well as discussions about the rights of biological parents and of unborn babies. Since all the commentary comes in the first person through the people involved, with different voices and opinions, I felt it was quite balanced. I had never thought about many of these issues; there may be different legalities elsewhere, of course. But I found myself more and more interested to know how the increasingly bitter court case would eventually be resolved. 

It’s the kind of book that’s likely to polarise opinions. Those in the hardline evangelical camp would probably see as a ‘gay agenda’ book, and those passionate about LGBT rights might see it as a ‘pro-life agenda’ book, full of hate. I don’t see most issues as black or white, however, though I have some understanding of both point of view. I thought the ending was surprising with an entirely satisfactory outcome. 

There are insights into the way infertility treatment works, as well as some scenarios showing how music therapy can work. I found that fascinating, almost as an aside to the main story; although no thread is wasted in Jodi Picoult’s books. My only one minor gripe is that I really wanted to know what was going to happen with Zoe’s career and one particular client, whose story takes an unexpected twist in a revelation towards the end.

Each chapter is supposed to be accompanied by music; there are QR codes and links, although I didn’t try to follow them until after I had finished. I don't like listening to music while I’m reading, even if it’s just instrumental, and it’s clear that these are songs. After I’d finished the book, I did try to find the link only to learn that it no longer exists. It took a while to find where the tracks are stored. And when I started listening to the first one, I didn’t much like it so I didn’t try the rest. I don’t suppose it matters.

This book is definitely recommended if you’d like something thought-provoking which is very readable, with likeable people (on the whole) and a lot to think about. Then again, it might be best avoided if you already have strong opinions on the issues involved.

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