Love can redeem a man...but secrets and lies can condemn him.
A handsome stranger comes to the sleepy New England town of Salem Falls in hopes of burying his past: Once a teacher at a girls' prep school, Jack St. Bride was destroyed when a student's crush sparked a powder keg of accusation. Now, washing dishes for Addie Peabody at the Do-Or-Diner, he slips quietly into his new routine, and Addie finds this unassuming man fitting easily inside her heart. But amid the rustic calm of Salem Falls, a quartet of teenage girls harbor dark secrets -- and they maliciously target Jack with a shattering allegation. Now, at the center of a modern-day witch hunt, Jack is forced once again to proclaim his innocence: to a town searching for answers, to a justice system where truth becomes a slippery concept written in shades of gray, and to the woman who has come to love him.
Joy for a Jodi Picoult Fan My daughter is a Jodi Picoult fan who felt sad because she believed she had read all of this Author's books. To cheer up my daughter, I embarked upon a search in the hope of finding a book by the Author that my daughter may have overlooked. Not knowing the names of the Picoult titles my daughter had read, I did an Amazon search of all Picoult's books, copied the list (with reviews) and emailed it to my daughter for her perusal. To my delight and my daughter's amazement, an unread title leapt from the email attachment - Salem Falls. This book will be slipped into my daughter's Christmas stocking and she, "can't wait" to read it! I remember being her age and feeling the same disappointment when exhausting a favourite author's offerings. So on behalf of my daughter and myself, "Thank you Amazon"! I know she will relish every word.
Excellent Modern-Day Crucible When I sat down to read Salem Falls, I wasn't really sure what to expect because I hadn't read many of Ms. Picoult's other works up to that point. But, what I discovered once I started reading was an excellent new twist on Arthur Miller's famous play, The Crucible.
Now, I know this was the intention and that it's no big surprise that I recognized the parallel right away. But, what I also noticed was how unforced the connections seemed to be. There are so many times in modern novels where a classic work is used as a basis and the prose feels strained as a result. That was not the case with Salem Falls - At least it wasn't for me.
I felt myself really entering the world of Salem Falls. The situations that Jack St. Bride was faced with were completely heart-wrenching and I destroyed several fingernails while "waiting" for the final verdict to be read.
I will say that the "shocking plot twist" at the end of the story was really not all that shocking for me. I felt like I could see Ms. Picoult leading up to it throughout most of the story. But, I read a LOT so maybe I'm desensitized to "whodunit" moments at this point? Either way, I can't think of a single thing that really disappointed me about this book.
Just fair plot with good character development While I appreciated the careful and thoughtful character portraits, I thought the plot was somewhat unbelievable. Overall I was disappointed in Salem Falls after truly enjoying most of Picoult's novels.
Jodi Picoult Does It Again Jodi Picoult is one of my new favorite authors. She certainly knows how to write a page-turner and how to straddle the line between "serious" and popular fiction. So far I have read Plain Truth, Harvesting the Heart, My Sister's Keeper, and this novel, Salem Falls. My favorite is a toss up between this and My Sister's Keeper.
The reviews on this book are mixed, with some readers like me loving it and others accusing it of being predictable and unbelievable. I, personally, didn't find the book to be predictable or unbelievable at all, though I could understand how one might perceive these flaws in the book if he or she were reading from a very cynical point of view. Actually, if it is a fact that such cynicism does indeed pervade our society so often, the argument of the novel's predictability is weakened. If cynicism is the norm, then the logical prediction would have been that Jack would be convicted, he and Addie would have broken up, etc. (In my opinion, if any one of Jodi Picoult's books is predictable, it's Plain Truth, not Salem Falls. Then again, I was trying to figure out Plain Truth's ending from page one, whereas I simply allowed Salem Falls to unfold before me as I immersed myself in its characters and story instead of trying to dissect the plot from the beginning.) I found Jack to be both a believable and sympathetic character. Just because a man is highly educated doesn't mean he can't also be naive - intellectual and emotional intelligence are two unique entities. Though such a heart of gold, a childlike innocence, is rare in an adult in this often cruel world, it does exist, and Jack won me over with this precious quality.
A Touch of Witchery Jodi Picoult has woven a tale about another cast of characters for her readers' enjoyment. She carefully tells a story in parts concentrating on each character then moving to another part. Her technique keeps the reader hanging in suspense until the conclusion.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
