I have to start by saying that Jodi Picoult is my favorite author, which (to some) might make this review seem biased in her favor as I have a propensity to love everything she touches. I just find her fluid yet slightly-elevated writing style, her unique plot ideas, the twists and turns she incorporates into each new story, her intersection of disparate characters and plots into one seamless story, and her multi-perspective way of addressing that common-thread plotline are too amazing not to praise. That being said...
I received Second Glance as a present from my mother in a book box she sent me for Christmas (I know, my mom is the best). I have read SO many of Picoult's other stories that I knew right away that I would love this one, as well, before I had any idea what the story was even about. When I read the back cover and some of the reviews on the first few pages (yes, I actually read those) I was pleased to learn that this story would be even further up my alley than I already assumed.
I am not typically drawn to sci-fi or supernatural genres. I tend to stick with more contemporary fiction. While I like horror, I tend to be drawn more into stories of true crime rather than fictional monsters. At the same time, though, I love a great ghost story every now and then, which is why this book stuck out to me from the start. The casualness with which Picoult writes about and incorporates elements of the spirital world, as well as some elements of wrinkles in the time contiuum, create a whole different feel in this story. It provides the elements of the gothic without the fear of a horror novel. Instead, these elements bring the characters and story together in a way that seems natural and peaceful. The serenity these chaotic characters finally find when they begin to let go of the logical, known world around them and open themselves up to the powers outside of their control all help to remind the reader that life cannot be understood or controlled by the individual, but rather we are all a piece of a bigger, cohesive story that supercedes our linear lives.
The viewpoints switch between multiple characters (as she is known to do) and the character list is quite extensive. It could be easy for a reader unused to this narrative technique to become lost within the first few chapters. On top of that, the story time jumps between the past events of Comtosook in the 1930s and the more contemporary characters of Comtosook in the 2000s. Each of these elements brings a depth and a complexity to the story that helps a reader gather bits and pieces of the story from multiple perspectives in a way that still does not reveal the entirety of the story, leaving room for the dips and dives that plot takes throughout.
With the incorporation of so many characters and plotlines throughout the story, Picoult is able to address many different themes including the fine lines between love and obsession - as well as the blur between the two; the power of depression over the logical mind for the victim, as well as those lives around them who are also affected; and the sense of one-ness in the universe across time (the idea that everything happens for a reason - both past and present). Picoult is able to present each of these through what seem to be completely different families, stories, and plots, but then draws them all together through one, mainline event where each of their paths and stories intersect in ways - sometimes supernatural - that they would never have guessed.
While the story is fictional - Picoult uses the small, fictional town of Comtosook, Vermont as her setting for the events of the story - there still appears to be an air of historical accuracy to many of the events and themes about which she writes. While I have never been anywhere near the East coast and have nothing of my own empirical experiences to compare to, Picoult's descriptions of the town, the nature, and the community in this town seem so native that I feel as if I have actually been there. The incorporation of fictional member of a factual Abenaki (Native American) tribe into the story - their history in the town, and their treatment by the settlers and inhabitants of the town (mostly WASP) - give this fictional novel a historically accurate tone in both the past and present portrayals of these events. Picoult emphasizes this factual tone with epigraphs from actual nonfiction pieces written in the 1930s from prevalent scientific research that emerged from this time and place about eugenics.
Having been previously unaware of the eugenics studies and projects of the 1930s in America (including those that Hitler used during his reign of terror in Germany to support his genocide of Jewish peoples) this fictional story brought to light some national issues of the past (about race, ethnicity, identity, "passing", and social acceptance) that can still be applied to many different social issues that America faces today. Issues about race, personal perceptions, social norms, and the malleability in the use of "hard scientific data" within the story causes the reader to question and look deeper into "facts" that are presented on social issues today, including how manipulative others can be with what seems like hard data. These deep, insightful looks can help society open their eyes in an abundance of ways if applied with critical thought.
For anyone who reads contemporary fiction, for those who are interested in a more-believable spirit story rather than a highly-fictualized version of a ghost story for the mere sake of fear, and obviously for anyone who is a fan of Jodi Picoult's work, I highly recommond reading Second Glance.
