The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

Published in 2006. 387 pages.


Reading a Jodi Picoult novel is not easy. She always deals with difficult topics - and sometimes as a wife and mother, they are topics I'd rather not face. The Tenth Circle - with date rape, and adultery, and suicide - was, obviously, no exception.

To date I've not found anyone who particularly liked this novel. In fact, several people have commented to me that they've liked all the Picoult novels they'd read except this one. I thoroughly planned, therefore, to not like it. Because the time remaining in the Summer Reading Challenge is nearly over and I had two Picoult novels left on my list, I even contemplated reading Plain Truth, which lots of people have said they liked, and skipping The Tenth Circle all together. Last night, however, after I finished Vanishing Acts, I decided to start The Tenth Circle because Plain Truth hasn't yet come in at the library (there are lots of holds on it) and I own a copy of The Tenth Circle (I bought it at a fundraising auction at Jelly Bean's school last fall). Then today, because it's a state holiday here in Utah and Jelly Bean and Sugar Plum have been spending the day reading Harry Potter, I read the rest of The Tenth Circle.

I was pleasantly surprised by the book. The topics were difficult, of course, but I found the novel to be extremely well crafted, except for the somewhat slow and predictable ending. I loved the use of Dante's circles of hell and comic book superheroes - which were the basis of the careers of the parents in the story - for the numerous metaphors they suggest. I also enjoyed the insights into the Eskimo culture in which the father was raised. Despite the ending, I would recommend The Tenth Circle - but it is not comfortable reading.

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