Product Description

The acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author presents a spellbinding tale of a mother's tragic loss and one man's last chance at gaining salvation.

Can we save ourselves, or do we rely on others to do it? Is what we believe always the truth?

One moment June Nealon was happily looking forward to years full of laughter and adventure with her family, and the next, she was staring into a future that was as empty as her heart. Now her life is a waiting game. Waiting for time to heal her wounds, waiting for justice. In short, waiting for a miracle to happen.

For Shay Bourne, life holds no more surprises. The world has given him nothing, and he has nothing to offer the world. In a heartbeat, though, something happens that changes everything for him. Now, he has one last chance for salvation, and it lies with June's eleven-year-old daughter, Claire. But between Shay and Claire stretches an ocean of bitter regrets, past crimes, and the rage of a mother who has lost her child.

Would you give up your vengeance against someone you hate if it meant saving someone you love? Would you want your dreams to come true if it meant granting your enemy's dying wish?

Once again, Jodi Picoult mesmerizes and enthralls readers with this story of redemption, justice, and love.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #721 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 464 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Picoult bangs out another ripped-from-the-zeitgeist winner, this time examining a condemned inmate's desire to be an organ donor. Freelance carpenter Shay Bourne was sentenced to death for killing a little girl, Elizabeth Nealon, and her cop stepfather. Eleven years after the murders, Elizabeth's sister, Claire, needs a heart transplant, and Shay volunteers, which complicates the state's execution plans. Meanwhile, death row has been the scene of some odd events since Shay's arrival—an AIDS victim goes into remission, an inmate's pet bird dies and is brought back to life, wine flows from the water faucets. The author brings other compelling elements to an already complex plot line: the priest who serves as Shay's spiritual adviser was on the jury that sentenced him; Shay's ACLU representative, Maggie Bloom, balances her professional moxie with her negative self-image and difficult relationship with her mother. Picoult moves the story along with lively debates about prisoner rights and religion, while plumbing the depths of mother-daughter relationships and examining the literal and metaphorical meanings of having heart. The point-of-view switches are abrupt, but this is a small flaw in an impressive book. 1,000,000-million copy first printing.(Mar.)
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From AudioFile
Picoult's story tackles a triple-whammy of hot-button issues--the death penalty, bioethics, and religious freedom. Shay, a condemned inmate--who, incidentally, exhibits a striking resemblance to the new Messiah--wishes to donate his heart to the sister of his murder victim after he is executed. A mesmerizing page-turner, CHANGE OF HEART examines the topic of religious dogma against the plight of a child's struggle with life and death. In an inspired editorial choice for full-cast narration, Nicole Poole, Stafford Clark-Price, James Frangione, Danielle Ferland, and Jennifer Ikeda expertly portray the novel's tangle of moral dilemmas from individual perspectives--and skillfully employ at least four other voices each. Ferland is especially memorable as the spirited and sarcastic Maggie, Shay's ACLU attorney. A.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Review
"Picoult is a rare writer who delivers book after book, a winning combination of the literary and the commercial." -- Entertainment Weekly

Customer Reviews

Too similar to The Green Mile
I think I was on the second chapter before I felt like I had read this before and very soon could predict "whodunnit." Very disappointing. My first book by Picould and I'm not very impressed. I wonder how Steven King feels about it?

Unbelievably stupid
Change of Heart: A Novel This audio book was enthusiastically recommended by a friend and I eagerly jumped to listen to it. I was disappointed to find that the book was so trite and such a Divinci Code-Green Mile take off that I'd bet it was written just to sell books. The least an author can do is research what she is writing about - her descriptions of early Christians, Gnosticism and the Gospels seemed to come from the essay of a 14 year old who didn't really do any of her assigned reading. And a central character - the young priest - had to have flunked seminary since he knew almost nothing about his faith or church history. At least DaVinci Code left you wondering a little. The only good point is that noone really claims that this is anything but fiction (unlike DaVinci Code).

Kept my interest
This is my first Jodi Picoult book and it won't be my last. It did keep my interest despite the abundance of religious sophistry and the smack of academia. I didn't fully buy into the premise, which is left up in the air: what is the reader to believe ultimately about Shay--about his crimes, about his "talents," etc. I'm not much of a believer in the metaphysical. I know that a writer can arrange events to make anything implausible occur.

The characters are perhaps the best part of this book, escpecially the ACLU lawyer, the prisoner with AIDS, and Shay's other fellow prisoners--except for the robin. The atmosphere is also quite good. There are, however, some details of the plot that I could not get past. Shay's real name is I.M. Bourne, we learn, and that was a bit too much to swallow. Also, the last chapter is, to my thinkiing, completely out of bounds--and again I don't know what we are to believe from it. I just know that it did not leave me with a satisfied feeling.

Still, the book has enough good qualities to recommend it.