The Storyteller

Book Title: The Storyteller

Author: Jodi Picoult

I have read all but one of Jodi Picoult’s books.  She is one of my favorite authors for her story telling style and her clear focus on presenting both sides. 

This story is about a woman named Sage.  She is a baker who hides from the general public because of a scar on her face.  She attends a grief circle due to the loss of her mother and meets this lovely ,elderly gentleman named Josef.  Josef starts coming to the bakery and becomes friends with Sage. 

Josef reveals to Sage that he was a Nazi and not just a Nazi but an SS guard.  Sage, who has a Jewish background, is asked by Josef to help kill himself.  She, understandably, goes through an emotional process of trying to figure out what to do with the news she is given.  In the process, Josef tells his story.  Also, Sage’s grandmother tells her story of being a Jewish child, growing up during WWII.  The two stories are intertwined and it is very intense. 

Again, with I am going to stop with my recap so as not to give anything away.  There is an interesting twist at the end of the story that made me literally yell out loud “WHAT?!?!”and spend the next few days rehashing the ending and trying to figure out exactly what happened.

I do love Jodi Picoult’s style of writing.  She takes time to research both sides of the story and tries to present each side.  The book is pretty long and the stories are pretty intense.  However, I would suggest this book.  It presents another side of the story and presents the mindset of a Nazi and how he handled that.  I do not understand it at all but it makes you think, which all good books should do.