The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

I have long been a Picoult fan, to my way of thinking she is the very best at what she does.

In this book she takes you on a journey that by the nature of the tale you might be a little reluctant to go on.

This is the first book based on this era of history that I have actually managed to read and at 40 odd years of reading that is saying something for the author`s ability!
Set in today`s busy but challenged world, the tale of Sage Singer, her past and present are beautifully interwoven with the brutality of Nazi Germany and the toll that was rendered to one family.
Beautifully written, it is both gritty and soothing, the descriptions of events in Nazi Germany are to say the least wrenching and to those who may doubt, they are a compelling testimony to the evil that man is capable of when lead by a powerful demigod and a desire to clutch at power, no matter its shape or form.

It is also a tale of love and redemption and asks the very powerful question: In what circumstances

 could/should you forgive?

The characters are drawn with a finesse that only an author of Picoult`s ability could achieve, nothing is left to the imagination, they are so real you could touch them, every detail is in the writing. The descriptions specifically of the Camps to which the Jews were taken just blew me away and the treatment they were subjected to were enough to bring me to tears, sadder still is the fact that it is all real. The research that has gone into this book defies belief, without it, it simply wouldn`t have rung true.

An amazing read, a wonderful story which would be the story of so many living in any town or city anywhere in the world, Jodi Picoult has out done herself and brought a moment in time into the reading lives of so many with this book.

This book is not as it as been described by some in the New Zealand book industry Chick Lit and neither are any of Picoult`s previous books, there is nothing wrong with Chick Lit but not all books written by women fit this genre, so please be careful when categorizing them.