Your religion should help you make the decision if you find yourself in that situation, but the policy should exist for you to have the right to make it in the first place.

When you say you can’t do something because your religion forbids it, that’s a good thing. When you say I can’t do something because YOUR religion forbids it, that’s a problem.

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 to 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 crosshairs 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.

One of the most fearless writers of our time, Jodi Picoult 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.

The BEST thing about Jodi Picoult is her in depth research about the topic she writes about. This book is no exception. This review is 100% based on Picoult’s incredible ability to tell a story from multiple angles so that no matter what side of an issue you stand, it is impossible not to empathize with the opposing side. With that being said…

My review of “A Spark of Light” will not divulge my personal stance on this subject but instead, and I can’t stress this enough… I praise the fact that as I read it I couldn’t help but remember that my religious, spiritual and political beliefs are obviously important to me but more important than that is the overwhelming feeling that we need to start respecting other people’s views and beliefs…whether we agree with them or not!

When George went into the abortion clinic armed with a gun, he chose his stance on abortion over the lives of everyone in it. An extremist on the issue, George accomplishes nothing but the murder of innocent people. When pro-life extremists do the same because of their stance, more lives are lost and more people divided.

I absolutely LOVE Picoult’s ability to tell a story that highlights the beliefs on both sides of an issue while at the same time reminds us all that extremism will accomplish nothing.

Not everyone can write on this level. Picoult is truly a master at her craft!

Jodi Picoult was born on May 19, 1966 in the USA as Jodi Lynn Picoult. She is a writer, known for My Sister’s Keeper (2009), Change of Heart and Small Great Things. She has been married to Timothy Warren van Leer since November 18, 1989. They have three children.

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