50 pages • 1 hour read
Jodi PicoultA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“My father told me that conservators do that, in case historians need to study the original composition. The only way you can tell how far you’ve come is to know where you started.”
This passage concludes the opening anecdote of the book where Diana and her father paint a ceiling together. It does three things: It establishes the close relationship that Diana has with her father; it signals that art of some kind will play an important role in the story; and it surmises the parabolic trajectory that the narrative takes over the course of the book.
“When I was young, and people asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, I had a whole plan. […] My father had laughed at my checklist. You, he told me, are definitely your mother’s daughter. I did not take that as a compliment.”
In the protagonist’s own words, this passage gives readers a first look at the kind of person she appears to be—ambitious and meticulous. It also, however, hints at discord in the relationship that Diana has with her mother.
“When it became clear that my mother had dementia, Finn asked me what I was going to do. Nothing, I told him. She had barely been involved in taking care of me when I was young; why was I obligated to take care of her now? I remember seeing the look on his face when he realized that for me, maybe, love was a quid pro quo.”
Diana believes love to involve an equal exchange of sacrifices and compromises. The nature of love is a major theme that the book addresses, and the view of love that Diana expresses here will eventually evolve over the course of the book.
By Jodi Picoult
A Spark of Light
A Spark of Light
Jodi Picoult
Between the Lines
Between the Lines
Jodi Picoult, Samantha van Leer
By Any Other Name
By Any Other Name
Jodi Picoult
Handle With Care
Handle With Care
Jodi Picoult
House Rules
House Rules
Jodi Picoult
Leaving Time
Leaving Time
Jodi Picoult
Mad Honey
Mad Honey
Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan
Mercy
Mercy
Jodi Picoult
My Sister's Keeper
My Sister's Keeper
Jodi Picoult
Nineteen Minutes
Nineteen Minutes
Jodi Picoult
Plain Truth
Plain Truth
Jodi Picoult
Salem Falls
Salem Falls
Jodi Picoult
Small Great Things
Small Great Things
Jodi Picoult
The Book of Two Ways
The Book of Two Ways
Jodi Picoult
The Pact
The Pact
Jodi Picoult
The Storyteller
The Storyteller
Jodi Picoult
The Tenth Circle
The Tenth Circle
Jodi Picoult
Vanishing Acts
Vanishing Acts
Jodi Picoult
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection