Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult

I have read quite a few of Jodi Picoult's novels before, but having just finished 'Plain Truth' I feel that this was the most moving and compelling by far. In 'Plain Truth' we are taken right into the heart of the Amish (Plain) Community in America, where an eighteen year old girl, katie Fisher, is accused of murdering her new born baby. Katie claims not to remember what happened on July 10th, when in the middle of the night in the family barn she gave birth silently and secretly, only later, after falling asleep, to discover that her newborn has died. Once the baby's body is discovered, there is a police investigation and Katie stands accused of first degree ...  Read the complete review

I like a book that makes me think, although when I bought this book, I didn't know how much it would expect of me as a reader, let alone what I expected of the author. It sounded tempting when I read reviews on it, although I was surprised at the impact it made on me, and how it set the psychological processes into trying to make sense of the morality of the events that the book brings out. Having never read this author before, I knew that the subject matter interested me, as I have something inside that fascinates me about the Amish people, since seeing a documentary about them many years ago. I like their values, appreciate that whilst they are different from me, their ...  Read the complete review

The pastel-dominated twee jackets of the Jodi Picoult books I had seen in the shops really turned me off reading anything by the author. I know the old adage about judging a book but I take little notice of it. I did know however that Jodi Picoult is one of the most popular novelists around at the moment so when I had the chance of acquiring one of her novels (which I would then list on e-bay) I jumped at the chance. It was when I was writing a summary of the blurb to list the book that I decided to give it a go. Since the book was on a seven day listing and I’d offered a “Buy it Now”, I’d have to get on with it. As it turned out, I needed no encouragement to get it ...  Read the complete review

As always with Jodi Picoult novels, the book would most probably be classed as a court room drama. I feel personally these books are more character driven dramas, although as always, the story does revolve around a court case central to the story. Plain Truth is the story of a young Amish girl, who finds herself pregnant, and terrified of being outcast keeps this to herself. When she gives birth alone to her baby in the stables of the family farm in the middle of the night, she does the one thing she's been taught to do in times of stress: prays. She prays that this will all just go away, and when she wakes the next morning the baby is gone. When the baby's ...  Read the complete review

I am always impressed by the amount of research that Jodi Picoult puts into her books and Plain Truths was no different. The storyline was very good but what is impressive is the detail that Picoult includes when describing an Amish family. It allows the reader to have a true insight into what life in an Amish village is like. Plain Truth starts with the discovery of a dead baby in an Amish village, the accussed is a young unmarried Amish girl who is assumed the baby's mother. The book follows Ellie an attorney who chooses to defend the young girl and to do this she has to learn the way of the Amish. The truth is shocking. Picoult writes the novel ...  Read the complete review