| Novel’s family copes with disability – and murder? |
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House Rules by Jodi Picoult
c.2010, Atria
$28/$32 Canada
532 pages
Don’t run through the house, with scissors or ever. Share your toys. Use your “indoor” voice. Eat what’s put on your plate.
Clean up your own messes. Wash your hands before meals and your face before bedtime. No backtalk and no hitting. Always tell the truth.
In order to turn you from a tiny savage into a respectable human, your parents had rules they tried to teach you. Some of them stuck and others, not so much.
But in the new book House Rules by Jodi Picoult, do’s and don’ts can put a man in jail.
Emma Hunt was used to blood spatters in her living room. Actually, it wasn’t real blood, it was corn syrup with dye – but the effect brought the same lump to her throat every time her son, Jacob, staged a crime scene.
Eighteen-year-old Jacob had Asperger’s syndrome and was highly intelligent. As one of the hallmarks of his disability, he obsessed – in his case, with forensics and crime scenes, often knowing more than the police. He was also prone to meltdowns, could recite entire movie scripts after having seen a film once, could not tell a lie and he was completely unable to read body language or understand emotions.
It was that last one that bothered Emma the most. Just once, she’d like a Mother’s Day gift without having to tell Jacob to give her one. But that never happened, and Emma resignedly realized it never would.
Mother’s Day barely registered with Jacob, but 15-year-old Theo might have noticed. Typical teenager, he had known all his life that Jacob was different, and that he, Theo, would always have to act like the “older brother.” It rankled him a lot, and he felt guilty for the bad thoughts he had toward Jacob.
For most of Jacob’s entire life, Emma Hunt made concessions. She lost her marriage, her career and most of her friends. Money was tight, but there was always a way to get Jacob what he needed, including a personal tutor who was helping him with his social skills.
Jess was bubbly and smart, and Jacob loved her. He might have even loved her to death …
Want a book that will keep you spellbound? That word pretty well describes what happens when you start a book by author Jodi Picoult.
House Rules, much like Picoult’s other books, is about one family’s struggles with something so cataclysmic that readers feel instantly sympathetic. Picoult has a way of stepping aside and letting her characters tell their own versions of what’s going on, and fonts in the print delineate that further, which makes you feel as if you’re hearing them speak individually.
And – true to the best books by this author – you can try to predict the plot all you want, but nothing is ever as it seems.
If it’s your turn to pick the book group book, or if you just want to read a dazzling and well-researched novel, you’ll want this one. For you, House Rules is a definite “do.”
Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was three years old and never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books. Readers with questions or comments may write to her in care of this publication. |
| 3/17/2010 |
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