Tough topic, great story

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	• Perfect Match: A Novel Jodi Picoult Washington Square Press, 2003 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 95 reviews view larger image
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Huge Jodi Picoult Fan

I picked up this book because I absoultely love Jodi Picoult. I was not prepared for what I was in for. While I think it was a great book, it was very emotional. I actually had 2 different bad dreams while reading this book that were based on this plot. It's an especially hard read for a parent. I think part of the problem is that I read this right after reading The Lovely Bones. Two disturbing books in a row was more than I was prepared for.

Tough topic, great story

I enjoyed Perfect Match despite the very difficult subject matter. Nina may be an unsympathetic heroine, but I found her quite real--cynical about the legal system she works within, torn at times between her love of career and love of family, accustomed to being in charge. The Library Journal review calls her "truly dislikable," but I found that unfair. If she were a man, would she be judged so harshly? The subplots--particularly the whole Patrick puppy love business--rang much less true. But in general, I found the main characters "whole" and well drawn, the pace good, and the narrative structure interesting and useful as a way to share the perspectives of the family members dealing with the great horror and sadness of the abuse.

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Last Rites

Nina Frost, an aptly named assistant district attorney in the State of Maine appears to have it all. She is married to Caleb, who is a gifted builder and outdoorsman and has a 5-year-old son named Nathaniel. He is a Beatle fan with a fondness for the White Album.

By early October of 2001, Nathaniel begins to withdraw. He stops speaking; becomes enuretic and acts out in kindergarten. Nathaniel shuts down and only communicates via sign language. Gradually, Nathaniel opens up and discloses that it was a priest who abused him.

Nina literally goes ballistic. When she faces the priest in court on October 30, 2001 she shoots him to death, in front of many witnesses. By November of 2001, it was determined that she shot the wrong man.

Francesca "Frankie" Martine, whom readers "met" in SALEM FALLS makes an appearance as an expert witness in this book. Her explanation of DNA is very interesting; in fact, her character is interesting, even though she has a "walk on" part. The subplot of her possible romantic interest in defense attorney Quentin Brown was never taken very far. That is to this book's credit.

I admit that I was not overly fond of the frosty Nina, but I could understand her actions. She ends up in jail and, in an amazing show of faith, is released. This lasts for a few weeks until Quentin Brown catches her talking to a colleague whom she encounters in a grocery store. He literally has her arrested in the store, torn from her own child. Re-arrsested, she has to bide her time until her cavalry-like lawyer Fisher Carrington (doesn't that name sound like something out of a soap opera) comes through for her. She's released in time for Christmas, only to spend it with officer Patrick Ducharme as Caleb has taken Nathaniel to Canada in light of Nina's recent arrest.

I just hated Patrick. He carried the torch for Nina; like Chris and Emily of THE PACT, they were friends from infancy on. As the story progesses, he was plainly a threat to the Frosts' marriage. I didn't like it when he and Nina had an unsurprising affair on Christmas Day 2001 and I really turned against him when he attacked Caleb in his own home for not rushing to post bail for Nina and later in the men's room at the court house. I was glad when Caleb called him on the affair he had with Caleb's wife in the men's room during the trial. I felt Patrick was way out of line and I wish he could have been brought up on assault charges for attacking Caleb and for shoving him in the restroom. That really tore it for me. Plain and simple, I truly hate that character. He was like a stalker and a danger to the Frosts' marriage and one wonders why Caleb put up with him as long as he did.

That schmendrick Patrick was also acting in a conflict of interests - he interrogated Caleb, hoping he was the perpetrator and he visited Nina in jail when he knew she was not supposed to talk to him prior to the trial. He was a pathetic loser.

Still, this is a very riveting read and the ending caught me off guard. I expected Nina to walk, but I did not expect the added twists that pulled this off with a bang! All in all, I say it's an excellent book and I've become an avid follower of Jodi Picoult's works. She is a truly gifted author and I like the inclusion of author interviews and questions for discussion at the end of her books.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, page 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

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