Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is one of those writers I turn to (like Anita Shreve) when I want a relatively fast read that I know I will get into quickly, will probably be about women, and will bring me out of a reading funk, if I happen to be in one. And, she seems to have a never-ending supply of books, so I feel like I can keep going back to the well again and again. This one is about an 18-year old unwed Amish woman, Katie, charged with murdering her newborn child. At first, Katie cannot acknowledge that she was even pregnant. She has no memory of how she got pregnant, of giving birth, or of anything that happened to the baby afterwards. Crack-defense attorney and distant non-Amish relative, Ellie, agrees to represent Katie. As part of the Court's agreement to allow Katie out on bail while awaiting trial, Ellie has to move to the Amish farm and adjust to a completely new lifestyle. Like many people, I do have a fascination with the Amish, and I was interested in the parts of the book that dealt with their reactions to Katie's charges, her shunning, and how Katie behaved vis-a-vis the expectations of her community. She has a brother, Jacob, who has been ex-communicated from the church because of his desire to go to college, and she has a pseudo-boyfriend who is confounded by the situation, knowing that he could not have been the father of the dead child. As Katie's memory slowly comes back to her in bits and pieces, her refusal to acknowledge her actions becomes a bit frustrating. And, I'm not sure if Picoult had a legal advisor on this novel, but Ellie probably violated 60% of the Rules of Professional Conduct during her representation of Katie, while maintaining that her actions were necessary to provide a stellar defense for her client. This, coupled with her juvenile romantic interactions with her ex-boyfriends (despite the fact that her character is 39 years old) made Ellie into a very unlikeable character. This book reminded me a lot of Chris Bohjalian's Midwives. It was not as compelling, but it had this did she or didn't she quality about it and I assumed it would end before we truly discoverd what had happened. Luckily, for me, Picoult did give us the real answer to the mystery in the final chapter, but it wasn't quite as satisfying as I'd hoped. Plain Truth served its purpose for me - but isn't one I recommend without hesitation.