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A Spark of Light cover art

A Spark of Light

Written by: Jodi Picoult
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin,Jodi Picoult
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Publisher's Summary

Number one New York Times best seller

The author author of Small Great Things returns with a powerful and provocative new novel about ordinary lives that intersect during a heart-stopping crisis. 

"Picoult at her fearless best... Timely, balanced and certain to inspire debate." (The Washington Post)

The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center - a women’s reproductive health services clinic - its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage. 

After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his 15-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic. 

But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order to save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester, disguised as a patient, who now stands in the crosshairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard. 

Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day. 

One of the most fearless writers of our time, Jodi Picoult tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation...and, hopefully, understanding. 

Praise for A Spark of Light:

"This is Jodi Picoult at her best: tackling an emotional hot-button issue and putting a human face on it." (People)

"Told backward and hour by hour, Jodi Picoult's compelling narrative deftly explores controversial social issues." (Us Weekly)

©2018 Jodi Picoult (P)2018 Random House Audio

What the critics say

“Picoult at her fearless best... Timely, balanced and certain to inspire debate.” (The Washington Post)

“This is Jodi Picoult at her best: tackling an emotional hot-button issue and putting a human face on it.” (People)

“Told backward and hour by hour, Jodi Picoult’s compelling narrative deftly explores controversial social issues.” (US Weekly)

“Thoroughly realistic storytelling...Picoult has achieved what politicians across the spectrum have not been able to: humanized a hot-button issue. Excellent for book clubs, this should also be considered for discussions in critical thinking and political debate.” (Library Journal, starred review) 

What listeners say about A Spark of Light

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Story told in Reverse

In general I liked the characters and story of this book but I wouldn’t recommend it. The story is told in reverse order which I found confusing especially in the audiobook format. If you are going to read this book, skip the audio version and go with a regular book that makes it easier to flip back to the beginning to figure out how the day actually fits together.

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5 people found this helpful

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  • Amy
  • 2019-01-02

Good book, not well-suited to audio

The backwards chronology of the chapters made it hard to follow as an audiobook. Wish I had read it on paper because the story was very compelling.

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3 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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An infuriating waste of a credit

I usually enjoy Jodi Picoult, but I can't finish this one. It's tedious. The author goes round and round the issue of abortion until I want to scream--enough already! I'm not even tempted to fast-forward to see who gets out alive and who doesn't--it's that annoying.

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2 people found this helpful

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Really didn't like the timeline

The timeline skipped around and was really confusing. Wasn't in love with any of the characters so didn't feel attached to them.

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1 person found this helpful

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Interesting book

This book tells the story in reverse. This is a bit hard wrap your head aroud in spots.
The caracters all have vibrant stories to tell so it is worth the struggle.

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A very good read overall

Picoult's character development and research weave together beautifully into a story that sheds light on a hotly debated issue in our society.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I just couldn’t get through it.

I am pro choice, a feminist and believe at my core that the topics this book covers is one of the most important topics of this generation. But I just couldn’t finish this. I was so bored by the end that I didn’t even care anymore. It was too preachy like it was written for a classroom specifically with the intent to prompt discussion. Nothing wrong with that, I think young women should read this to hear all the sides as they were presented. But to me the characters were too contrived. Like the author added each one only to make sure that character covered each point of view she could think of.
In the end it was just too much and I stopped caring why George did what he did.
I had 2.5 hours left on the audio book googled how it finished instead, and moved on to something else in my library.
It’s an important book that prompts good discussion if you want it for a book club maybe but as a fictional story it was just too tidy and felt overly contrived.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

good story, hard to follow

The story itself is really compelling. You get to see so many believable points of view, but the back to front timeline is frustrating. theres one shred of information at the end that makes it kind of make sense why its back to front, but I think you'd grow more attached to the characters if it were chronological.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great Overall

Took a little bit to get into the way this story is told, but appreciated it in the end. So many themes and real world 'issues' highlighted. Wonderfully written and an enjoyable read.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

prochoice heavy

Usually Jodi does a much better job at presenting both sides of the issues she writes about. This time however, it was most definitely a prochoice heavy book. It’s unfortunate that the only representatives for pro lifer’s were zealots and extremists. There was much effort given in describing science in defence pro choice, and a pitiful job of representing life, and all of the pro-lifer’s who DO foster children and support pregnant woman in crisis. I’m disappointed in this one.

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