A SPARK OF LIGHT moved me and shook me to the extent that I wondered if I would be able to write a decent review. Not one to shy away from difficult topics, Jodi Picoult tackles perhaps the most controversial one in the United States: abortion. The premise is simple enough: a pro-life armed gunman holds everyone hostage in an abortion clinic. The moment I read the blurb, I knew I needed to read this book. Who better than an author with Ms. Picoult's sensitivity, fearlessness, and intelligence to write about such a touchy subject.

For at least the first third of the book, I was unsure if the narrative structure would work for me: A SPARK OF LIGHT begins at 5 p.m. -- towards the end of the hostage crisis -- and unfolds backward until 8 a.m., to conclude at 6 p.m. It turns out that the unconventional structure was the ideal choice. Up to a point, it is not how it ended that matters the most, but rather which events led to the deadly stand-off, and how everyone's past actions determined their reasons for being at the clinic. I'm still debating whether a longer epilogue would have been more satisfactory, but I will read the first chapter again very soon. And I will read A SPARK OF LIGHT again. Going backward in time, instead of a traditional timeline provides Jodi Picoult with the opportunity to explore every facet of the rights of women versus the rights of the fetus through each character's personal experience. A SPARK OF LIGHT is a colossal and in-depth character study, with characters so richly drawn that every one of them could have starred in their own book. Through those extraordinarily ordinary people, Jodi Picoult weaves an exceptionally compelling story of everything that lies behind a momentous decision and how and whom it will ultimately change lives. And I must commend Ms. Picoult on her subtlety in bestowing the same respect on each character, on showing precisely why they acted the way they did and in not judging their choices -- in the past as well as during the crisis. A couple of characters touched me the most for more reasons than I could enumerate: Izzy, a nurse, and Dr. Ward.

A SPARK OF LIGHT is superlatively enlightening; it enriched my knowledge on the topic of reproductive choices and the scientific facts involved; it altered my perception of some of the decisions that people make, and I certainly will not be the only one left unaffected, regardless of which side of the fence the reader stands on. How very ironic that a situation that is seen as so very black and white consists of every shade of grey imaginable. I was already familiar with Jodi Picoult's outstanding storytelling skills, her unique understanding of the human psyche, and I knew that A SPARK OF LIGHT would be epic because I feel that the delicate topic was perfectly suited to Ms. Picoult's uncompromising approach and immense talent, and A SPARK OF LIGHT exceeded every one of my sky-high expectations.