REVIEW: LONE WOLF by Jodi Picoult

Fans of Picoult will be blown away by her most recent book LONE WOLF.   I would have to say that this is by far my favorite of her books to date.  It combines two very interesting topics wolves and traumatic brain injury / organ donation.  What would you do for a loved one if they suffered a serious brain injury?  Would you be able to make the right choices when your heart seems to want something different?  What if there was another person wanting the very opposite result you want?  LONE WOLF is a very emotional read.  It discusses trauma, forgiveness, and hope all mixed together.  It is Picoult at her best, pushing the reader to think about what they would do in the same situation.  I am not sure where Picoult comes up with her ideas, but I am so glad she does.  


 

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2012

A life hanging in the balance . . . a family torn apart. The #1 internationally bestselling author Jodi Picoult tells an unforgettable story about family secrets, love, and letting go.

In the wild, when a wolf knows its time is over, when it knows it is of no more use to its pack, it may sometimes choose to slip away. Dying apart from its family, it stays proud and true to its nature. Humans aren’t so lucky.

Luke Warren has spent his life researching wolves. He has written about them, studied their habits intensively, and even lived with them for extended periods of time. In many ways, Luke understands wolf dynamics better than those of his own family. His wife, Georgie, has left him, finally giving up on their lonely marriage. His son, Edward, twenty-four, fled six years ago, leaving behind a shattered relationship with his father. Edward understands that some things cannot be fixed, though memories of his domineering father still inflict pain. Then comes a frantic phone call: Luke has been gravely injured in a car accident with Edward’s younger sister, Cara.

Suddenly everything changes: Edward must return home to face the father he walked out on at age eighteen. He and Cara have to decide their father’s fate together. Though there’s no easy answer, questions abound: What secrets have Edward and his sister kept from each other? What hidden motives inform their need to let their father die . . . or to try to keep him alive? What would Luke himself want? How can any family member make such a decision in the face of guilt, pain, or both? And most importantly, to what extent have they all forgotten what a wolf never forgets: that each member of a pack needs the others, and that sometimes survival means sacrifice?

Another tour de force by Picoult, Lone Wolf brilliantly describes the nature of a family: the love, protection, and strength it can offer—and the price we might have to pay for those gifts. What happens when the hope that should sustain a family is the very thing tearing it apart?


NOTE:  This is book 9 for my CLP Reading Challenge