Philadelphia lawyer, Ellie Hathaway is somewhat dissatisfied with her life and career. There's no reason why she should be – she's won almost every case she's come up against. She's kept murderers, rapists, and various other criminals out of jail. She's successfully suppressed evidence and won all her cases. She's just won yet another high profile case, although it does not improve her feelings. As Ellie describes it;
"My nightmares were full of children. Specifically, six little girls – two dark-haired, four fair, their knees sticking out beneath the plaid uniform jumper of St Ambrose's School, their hands twisting in their laps. I watched them grow up in an instant, you see; at the very moment a jury foreman acquitted my client, the elementary school principle who had molested them."
Her personal life isn't ideal, either. She always assumed that she'd have children by this point, and the fact that motherhood currently isn't an option is something that nags at her as her bodily clock ticks away. Despite being with her partner for eight years now, they aren't married, or even close to being so, and the face of the child she never had haunts her dreams.
However, for now, Ellie is remaining optimistic. Her partner, Stephen, has set up an interview for her at his firm, with a chance to be made senior partner. When her car's engine conks out on the highway, she is lucky not to be killed. But all Stephen can do is ask why she's late, and tell her "that's what taxi's are for."
So, Ellie decides to take a hiatus from her life and her career, and goes to stay with her aunt Leda, near Lancaster County, in Southeast Pennsylvania. She soon finds she's dropped straight into a murder trial, and despite her personal feelings, ends up helping the Amish girl accused, eighteen-year-old Katie Fisher.
A dead newborn was recently found at the Fisher family's farm. Medical experts say that it appears that the baby may have been smothered, and to local detective, Lizzie Munro, it seems that the most likely culprit would be the mother of the child. There is no obvious mother, though, until Katie is seen to be bleeding, and is forcefully taken to hospital. Despite all medical evidence, Katie continues insisting that she was never pregnant.
Katie's family, particularly her father, is traditionally Amish. When Lizzie asks if his daughter may have been pregnant, Aaron Fisher denies it, on the grounds that Katie was unmarried. When Lizzie gently points out that marriage is not a prerequisite for pregnancy, Aaron replies, "To us, it is."
Much of the book focuses on Amish culture, particularly as Ellie is required to stay at the Fisher's farm as Katie's guardian. I must confess, that my previous knowledge of the Amish faith comes, in it's entirety from Weird Al Yankovic's "Amish Paradise", which is definitely not the best source. However, subsequent research has shown that Picoult was pretty accurate in her portrayal. Lapsed Amish (practicing Amish deigned to comment) also say that she got it right.
The Amish characters in the book occupy a fairly wide variety of roles. Aaron Fisher, Katie's father, is tremendously strict, and hard on his family and himself. He goes far beyond what the ordnances require, and refuses to so much as acknowledge his lapsed son, Jacob.
Jacob wished to study beyond the eighth grade education Amish folk are normally given, and chose to do so rather than stay within his family. The Amish culture disapproves of individual achievement, which Jacob's study was seen as. However, although he was not a member of the faith, his father and his family were not required to forget him completely, and Sarah Fisher and her daughter, Katie, try their best to talk to him in secret.
Another character that left the Amish faith is Leda, both Katie and Ellie's aunt. Although she does not visit due to Aaron's strict views, she and Sarah are still in contact, and Leda provides the link between Ellie and Katie, at least at first.
Samuel Stolzfus, Katie's intended, is just a strong, atypical Amish man, trying to do what he believes is for the best. He occupies a similar role to Patrick in the film Saved! as far as portrayals of traditionally religious characters are concerned, and provides a stark contrast to Aaron.
The plot is told between a third-person viewpoint, with occasional first-person chapters from Ellie's point of view.
To be honest, I didn't find Ellie a sympathetic or truly believable person. Her obsession with a child is so great that she finds herself unable to truly sympathize with Katie, who she believes is guilty. I don't believe it. I don't believe it's possible to be so obsessed with motherhood that a person who would win cases for pedophiles and rapists would have difficulty arguing for someone accused of neonaticide. Of course, I'm young, and nowhere near to being a mother myself, and perhaps my opinion will change. But, for now, I just don't find it believable. Or rather, if I am to believe, then Ellie is hypocritical enough that I find myself unable to consider her a sympathetic character.
Jodi Picoult's writing is just as good and involving as in My Sister's Keeper although still not as witty or flowing as Sosnowski, another author on my mind, who wrote Vamped. For some reason I found this book slightly less enjoyable than My Sister's Keeper. It's most likely that the subject matter interested me less. There's also the fact that My Sister's Keeper focused more on the relationships between characters and was told by a wide variety, while Plain Truth is told only in third-person, or from the viewpoint of a character I didn't like very much.
However, just because I found the book less enjoyable doesn't mean that it was bad. On the contrary, I was unable to put it down, and am now reading it for the second time in as many weeks. I also picked up three more of Picoult's novels earlier, and, since hearing that Lifetime made Plain Truth into a film, I had the good fortune of accidentally and coincidentally tracking it down. Picoult made a new fan with My Sister's Keeper, and Plain Truth has only strengthened my respect for her writing.
"My nightmares were full of children. Specifically, six little girls – two dark-haired, four fair, their knees sticking out beneath the plaid uniform jumper of St Ambrose's School, their hands twisting in their laps. I watched them grow up in an instant, you see; at the very moment a jury foreman acquitted my client, the elementary school principle who had molested them."
Her personal life isn't ideal, either. She always assumed that she'd have children by this point, and the fact that motherhood currently isn't an option is something that nags at her as her bodily clock ticks away. Despite being with her partner for eight years now, they aren't married, or even close to being so, and the face of the child she never had haunts her dreams.
However, for now, Ellie is remaining optimistic. Her partner, Stephen, has set up an interview for her at his firm, with a chance to be made senior partner. When her car's engine conks out on the highway, she is lucky not to be killed. But all Stephen can do is ask why she's late, and tell her "that's what taxi's are for."
So, Ellie decides to take a hiatus from her life and her career, and goes to stay with her aunt Leda, near Lancaster County, in Southeast Pennsylvania. She soon finds she's dropped straight into a murder trial, and despite her personal feelings, ends up helping the Amish girl accused, eighteen-year-old Katie Fisher.
A dead newborn was recently found at the Fisher family's farm. Medical experts say that it appears that the baby may have been smothered, and to local detective, Lizzie Munro, it seems that the most likely culprit would be the mother of the child. There is no obvious mother, though, until Katie is seen to be bleeding, and is forcefully taken to hospital. Despite all medical evidence, Katie continues insisting that she was never pregnant.
Katie's family, particularly her father, is traditionally Amish. When Lizzie asks if his daughter may have been pregnant, Aaron Fisher denies it, on the grounds that Katie was unmarried. When Lizzie gently points out that marriage is not a prerequisite for pregnancy, Aaron replies, "To us, it is."
Much of the book focuses on Amish culture, particularly as Ellie is required to stay at the Fisher's farm as Katie's guardian. I must confess, that my previous knowledge of the Amish faith comes, in it's entirety from Weird Al Yankovic's "Amish Paradise", which is definitely not the best source. However, subsequent research has shown that Picoult was pretty accurate in her portrayal. Lapsed Amish (practicing Amish deigned to comment) also say that she got it right.
The Amish characters in the book occupy a fairly wide variety of roles. Aaron Fisher, Katie's father, is tremendously strict, and hard on his family and himself. He goes far beyond what the ordnances require, and refuses to so much as acknowledge his lapsed son, Jacob.
Jacob wished to study beyond the eighth grade education Amish folk are normally given, and chose to do so rather than stay within his family. The Amish culture disapproves of individual achievement, which Jacob's study was seen as. However, although he was not a member of the faith, his father and his family were not required to forget him completely, and Sarah Fisher and her daughter, Katie, try their best to talk to him in secret.
Another character that left the Amish faith is Leda, both Katie and Ellie's aunt. Although she does not visit due to Aaron's strict views, she and Sarah are still in contact, and Leda provides the link between Ellie and Katie, at least at first.
Samuel Stolzfus, Katie's intended, is just a strong, atypical Amish man, trying to do what he believes is for the best. He occupies a similar role to Patrick in the film Saved! as far as portrayals of traditionally religious characters are concerned, and provides a stark contrast to Aaron.
The plot is told between a third-person viewpoint, with occasional first-person chapters from Ellie's point of view.
To be honest, I didn't find Ellie a sympathetic or truly believable person. Her obsession with a child is so great that she finds herself unable to truly sympathize with Katie, who she believes is guilty. I don't believe it. I don't believe it's possible to be so obsessed with motherhood that a person who would win cases for pedophiles and rapists would have difficulty arguing for someone accused of neonaticide. Of course, I'm young, and nowhere near to being a mother myself, and perhaps my opinion will change. But, for now, I just don't find it believable. Or rather, if I am to believe, then Ellie is hypocritical enough that I find myself unable to consider her a sympathetic character.
Jodi Picoult's writing is just as good and involving as in My Sister's Keeper although still not as witty or flowing as Sosnowski, another author on my mind, who wrote Vamped. For some reason I found this book slightly less enjoyable than My Sister's Keeper. It's most likely that the subject matter interested me less. There's also the fact that My Sister's Keeper focused more on the relationships between characters and was told by a wide variety, while Plain Truth is told only in third-person, or from the viewpoint of a character I didn't like very much.
However, just because I found the book less enjoyable doesn't mean that it was bad. On the contrary, I was unable to put it down, and am now reading it for the second time in as many weeks. I also picked up three more of Picoult's novels earlier, and, since hearing that Lifetime made Plain Truth into a film, I had the good fortune of accidentally and coincidentally tracking it down. Picoult made a new fan with My Sister's Keeper, and Plain Truth has only strengthened my respect for her writing.
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