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A Spark of Light Hardcover – January 1, 2018

by Jodi Picoult (Author)
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 6,413 ratings
Goodreads Choice Award nominee
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The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.

After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.

But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester disguised as a patient, who now stands in the cross hairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.

Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.

Jodi Picoult—one of the most fearless writers of our time—tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding.
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  1. Print length
    355 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2018
  5. Dimensions
    6.38 x 1.3 x 9.45 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1444788124
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1444788129
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hodder & Stoughton Ltd; First Edition (January 1, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 355 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1444788124
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1444788129
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1.3 x 9.45 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 6,413 ratings

About the author

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Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult

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Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-eight novels, including Wish You Were Here, The Book of Two Ways, A Spark of Light, Small Great Things, Leaving Time, and My Sister's Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Picoult lives in New Hampshire.

Her next novel, Mad Honey, co-written with Jennifer Finney Boylan, is available on October 11th.

Follow Jodi Picoult on Intagram, Twitter, and Facebook: @jodipicoult

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
6,413 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Menushka
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2019
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As always a well written and incredibly written book by Jodi Picoult. She provides a balanced view in a very emotive topic.
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Bern
4.0 out of 5 stars Another gem by Jodi
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2018
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Read this book in one long weekend. Loved the depth to the characters and how they all intertwined. The moral struggles in the book had me questioning my own values. Again Jodi has taken a subject I thought I had a firm grip of and made it into an unpredictable piece of soap. Loved it!
One person found this helpful
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Cindy Vine
3.0 out of 5 stars A little disappointing
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2019
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I love Jodi Picult and always eagerly await her latest book. Unfortunately, A Spark of Light left me feeling a little bleh. It was well-researched as always. Maybe a little too much like a lecture at times. But, and I hate to say this, but it felt like she had printed off her manuscript, accidentally dropped it on the floor, and some of the page order got muddled up. It took a little while for me to realise that she was writing in reverse time order, but with the many characters, all their perspectives and different times in their lives within a chapter - it became a little confusing. It then became a book I had to read because I'd paid good money for it and because it was a Jodi Picoult, not a book I read because it was entertaining and I was gripped. But that's just my perspective. Also, the way it was written, the attempt at a twist fell flat because it was totally predictable. I wish I could be more positive, as I am a die-hard Picoult fan.
5 people found this helpful
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Andy
5.0 out of 5 stars Bought for book club
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2019
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Bought for book club
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Sebolelo
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2019
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It was a little different from the other Jodi Picoult books I've read. I found it a little stretched at times, but there where some surprises towards the end that make it worth investing in it till the last page
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Ashrae
5.0 out of 5 stars A Spark of Light
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2018
I am relatively new to this author's work having only read one of her previous books; Small Great Things, but I was very impressed with what I read there so I was quite interested to see how she would tackle things in this, her latest book set around a hostage situation at a woman's health clinic.
Firstly, I have to mention the timeline. We actually count back in hours beginning at the end with each previous hour becoming the feature of the next chapter. I did struggle with this initially but by the 3rd or 4th hour back I had got my head around it enough to make my reading flow better.
Starting at the end and working backwards also makes it hard for me to write anything else much about the actual story in my review as the time factor is a bit key in all the interconnected, individual stories that are woven throughout the book as a whole. In a sort of things sometimes being explained before they happen kind of way!
Obviously, the elephant in the room is the main topic at large in this book. Where Small Great Things tackled racism at the heart of the story contained therein, this book ramps things up a notch and features abortion; pro-life and pro-choice. A topic not nearly so black and white in nature and definitely one of the most emotional debates throughout time. The research that the author has so obviously done shines through as she presents every side of the argument and, indeed, dispels some of the myths and untruths surrounding it, capturing the emotions surrounding all the character's individual stories in a very balanced way. She also throws into the mix an interesting spin on things as the police negotiator's own daughter is caught up in the action inside the clinic.
The author juggles some great emotional scenes with those containing the cold hard facts very well throughout which made me feel quite safe and protected whilst reading the book. I have never been in a situation where I needed to think about my own feelings around this subject and, as I am of a certain age and have no children of my own, I will probably never need to in the future but, as a layman of sorts, I thought that the information was very well presented and, on the whole, balanced. Don't get me wrong, a lot of what is contained within the book is hard hitting. Especially the side story told away from the hostage situation which did somewhat shock me. Definitely opened my eyes somewhat, especially when all was finally revealed.
But, taking aside the emotion for a moment, the whole story, when all was revealed, was extremely well worked out. The connections between the individual character's own lives, how interconnected it all was at the end of the day, did really impress me. As did the very clever way that the whole was told in its backwards format. We also had the juxtaposition of the two father/daughter relationships as they were played out.
All in all, a very powerful read that kept my attention throughout and left me with a lot to think about beyond the final page. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
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Pheadra Farah
3.0 out of 5 stars including some of my all-time favourite reads, I have to say this read was ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2018
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As a reader of more than a dozen Jodi Piccoult books, including some of my all-time favourite reads, I have to say this read was disappointing as it didn’t quite hit the emotion it aimed for.
The book is told in reverse order. This diminished any mystery or intrigue that might have existed, had the story flowed chronologically. I actually considered not completing it, when it became obvious that this was a book about abortion.
The topic itself is current and relevant, and I am certainly not averse to discussing and debating it, but addressing it in the way this story is pieced together made the characters surreal and distanced. I knew from the blurb, that a shooting at a women’s health clinic where abortions were being performed would take place. I did not, however, expect the entire book to be entirely about abortions. The novel is so focused on the issue and providing lots of information, that it often becomes a parched and detached almost scientific read, that resembles a research document.
9 people found this helpful
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EsmeM
2.0 out of 5 stars Loved the Story BUT...
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2019
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Did not like the way it was written, the wrong way around. I hated reading the end of the book first and lost interest half way through.
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Top reviews from other countries

Eva
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
Reviewed in Germany on November 24, 2023
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I'm a huge fan of Jodie Picoult, but this novel is, in my view, not up to her usual standards. For one, the technique of going back and forth on the time-line, telling the story in random scenes, sometimes repeating individual parts, doesn't make it thrilling or authentic but boring. It might work in a movie but not in a written text. Also, after the umptieth repetition of the pro and con arguments in the abortion debate, you start to get tired of the whole subject.
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Nanie Hurley
5.0 out of 5 stars It May Look Like a Choice, But Is It?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2023
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Jodi Picoult is a master of words. I have yet to read a book by this author that I dislike. So I had high expectations. 

And A Spark of Light delivers. It’s an intense book and a challenging read. The story is masterfully written, but the subject is hard to digest. It follows the lives of the people inside the last abortion centre in Mississippi when they find themselves trapped with a lone shooter, eager to take revenge. 

The story goes backwards in time, hour by hour. Picoult weaves the narratives of each character’s pasts and motivations, the reasons they are in the centre and their personal views on abortion. 

As the tense hostage situation unfolds, you discover what led those people to where they are, and how their beliefs were formed.

It’s clear the author is pro-choice. But I do think Picoult was able to write from a place of understanding, and she makes all her characters very human and smart. 

I don’t think A Spark of Light will be able to change anyone’s view on such a thought-provoking and divisive subject as abortion. It will, however, make you reflect on your own views and hopefully understand a little bit more what leads people to think differently. 

A Spark of Light is a hard read, but an incredible story. 
5 people found this helpful
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Vinita Nayar
3.0 out of 5 stars Not her best
Reviewed in India on July 17, 2021
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I enjoyed the book and the issue it discusses but the format of the narrative made it too long and thereby repetitive too
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Jacky Robinson
4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2024
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It was a fabulous read
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Kindle Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
Reviewed in India on March 15, 2020
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The story has too many flashbacks into almost all the character's lives. It's quite irritating when there are so many characters. I have so far enjoyed Jodi Picoult's books, but this one was a complete disappointment.
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