Review: Sing You Home

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Title: Sing You Home
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Atria International
Source: Kinokuniya Singapore
Synopsis:


"One miscarriage too many spelled the end of Max and Zoe Baxter's marriage. Though the former couple went quite separate ways, their fates remained entangled: After veering into alcoholism, Max is saved in multiple senses by his fundamentalist conversion; Zoe, for her part, finds healing relief in music therapy and the friendship, then romantic love with Vanessa, her counselor. After Zoe and Vanessa, now married, decide to have a baby, they realize that they must join battle with Max, who objects on both religious and financial grounds."

Review: ⋆⋆⋆⋆

“There are so many things I can't believe. That people deserve what they get, both bad and good. That one day I'll live in a world where people are judged by what they do instead of who they are. That happy endings don't have contingencies and conditions.” 

In Sing You Home, Picoult tackles several heavy issues: faith, miscarriage, and gay rights - and I don't think I've named them all. Above all, however, this is a book about the definition of family.

Because of the subject matter, it's almost impossible to approach this book as an unbiased reader. You're either predisposed to root for Zoe and Vanessa, or against them. Picoult presents their point of views as well as Max's, so you get a chance to understand their choices and their emotions. I think she tries to be objective, but her bias came through. While the narration is kind to Max's discovery of faith, it is not to the evangelical Christians. Apart from Liddy, the others appear unkind to say the least, only a couple of steps above Westboro Baptist Church.

The story - as is with most Picoult's novels - is riddled with tragedies. It is emotionally exhausting, but she writes it so you can't help but feel connected to the characters and want to see the it through to the end. I loved the ending. Not only because it blew my mind, but also because at the end of the day this is a story about people, not institutions. At the end of the day, the perfect family doesn't always fit the mold. You may have a mother and father, two dads, two moms, or just one parent. Your parents don't even have to be biologically related to you. The perfect family is the people who love you unconditionally. If that is what Picoult was trying to convey, she did a good job at it.

“Beliefs are the roads we take to our dreams. Believe you can do something-or believe you can't-and you'll be right everytime.”