Fair’s Fair “For Book Lovers”

Jodi Picoult. Nineteen Minutes. New York: Washington Square Press, 2007.

Jodi Picoult’s novels are the type that I like to read on planes, or during coffee breaks, or while riding the bus to work (if I actually manage to get a seat on the bus in busy Calgary, Alberta). Picoult’s plots are timely. She often picks up on events that recently occurred in the world and then re-makes and re-shapes these occurences.

In Nineteen Moments, Picoult delivers a plot centered on a school killing obviously based on Colombine and other school killings over the past decade. Interestingly, she weaves the lives of the living so intricately throughout the story that the killings seem distanced. She also doesn’t overly develop her main characters so one isn’t left weeping at every turn of the novel. Mostly, the plot provides enough twists and turns to move the story forward.

In an introduction to the book, the editor gives some indication of the plot: “Peter Houghton has endured years of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of his classmates. His best friend Josie Cormier, succumbed to peer pressure and now hangs out with the popular crowd that often instigates the harassment. One final incident of bullying sends Peter over the edge and leads him to commit [a terrible massive] act of violence.”

Further. the story involves the relationship between a court judge, Alex Cormier, and a police officer. It is Alex’s daughter, who ends up being involved in the horrific event.”
Suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), Alex at first remembers nothing about the event, but later the truth breaks through, changing the course of her life and that of her mother’s, just as Peter’s action changes the lives of an entire community.

Nineteen Moments, although 455 pages long, is an easy read. After all, Jodi Picoult is a clear, concise writer. There is considerable suspense and action to hold one’s attention throughout and there are enough general themes in the work to make one reflect on recent happenings in the world—the why of, and how to change a world where such violence prevails. I am glad that I choose this book for a late evening read. Questions for Discussion appear at the end of the book, making it a good choice for Book Club readers.