Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult is a story told from the perspective of the three main characters in it: Zoe, Max and Vanessa. The story begins with Max and Zoe as a married couple suffering through infertility. They have gone through repeated cycles of IVF, and Zoe wound up losing a baby late in pregnancy to stillbirth. At this point, Max decides he can't be married to her anymore and asks for a divorce.
Max is a weak link, an alcoholic without the ability to make decisions for himself, even after he quits drinking. He becomes a born-again Christian, which appears to solve all his problems at the beginning. The church he joins is Evangelical, and believes everyone is going to hell and they should crusade against pretty much all of society that isn't exactly like they are. Max is living with his brother Reid and sister-in-law Liddy, who are devoted church members themselves.
Zoe eventually comes out of her depression after losing both her baby and her husband when she starts spending time with Vanessa. She already knows Vanessa through work. Zoe is a music therapist who works with senior citizens as well as dying, autistic, and depressed children. Vanessa is a counselor in the school Zoe works in. First, they are friends. Zoe is aware that Vanessa is gay, but doesn't think much about it until she realizes that she has fallen for Vanessa, who is already half in love with Zoe anyway. They begin a relationship which leads to marriage, but they cannot get married in Rhode Island and must go to Massachussetts to do so.
Eventually, Vanessa offers to carry a child since Zoe cannot, and they ask Max for access to the embryos that were left from the marriage. This is when everything begins to happen.
Max, being now a religious Christian, is horrified that his ex-wife is now "choosing" to be gay, and his Pastor hires an Evangelical Christian attorney who's main work is to crusade around the country spreading hate everywhere he goes. They start a court case to keep Zoe and Vanessa from getting the embryos.
This story is extremely emotional, and well-told from both sides. Although it is clear Ms. Picoult falls on the more liberal side of the political spectrum, she handles both sides of the story and all character's viewpoints equally. It would have been easy to paint Max as "the bad guy", but he truly is not. The Pastor and the lawyer are definitely shown as the nasty human beings they are, always so convinced that they are right, and manipulating everyone else to do their bidding. Max is such a character, so easily swayed by their machinations. But in the end, he does stand up for himself, rather than just his newfound beliefs.
I enjoyed this book, but some of it was difficult to read. I am aware of those loudmouth political people who are out there spouting hate left and right, but in the interest of my own sanity, I usually try to avoid listening or reading about them. This was a bit enforced, as it was crucial to the story. It's hard to hear such hatred being spewed at anyone, whether I am part of the group or not.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the topic. It was well-written and very timely in it's subject matter. I hope someday to revisit this story and find it dated in it's viewpoints.
