I've been off-line since before Christmas - sorry to any readers out there. A pretty awful virus caught up with me and, although I've done quite a bit of reading in the interim, I haven't felt motivation enough to blog about any of them. Whether this is a reflection of me, or of the books I chose to read, is debatable. Still, I'm back now.
Jody Picoult has millions of fans, and I'm one of them. In each of her several books, she deals with a moral issue of our time and Salem Falls is no exception. Jack St Bride is accused of raping one of his students. He pleads guilty to a lesser charge, and accepts an 'easier' punishment, in order to avoid the very real risk that his protestations of innocence will not be believed. At the 11th hour his 'victim' tries to save him, only to be disbelieved and her motives suspected.
The reader is asked to consider the morality of a harsh justice system in which a process supposedly designed to protect the innocent and punish the guilty can, all too easily, confuse which is which and damage both, irreparably. There is also the issue of courage and cowardice, where we are asked to recognise that the line between them can be paper thin; the supposed coward can still be a hero and bigotry masquerades as righteous courage.
A good read, with satisfying twists and turns.
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