Book Review by Burry Port Bookworms:


There is trouble in Paradise, where this drama unfolds. Under investigation within an Amish community is the murder of a newborn baby, most likely by its teenage mother. There is a whole lot of not telling the truth in East Paradise (Pennsylvania) where these reclusive ‘Plain People’ are weaving convenient lies.


The Amish culture skirts around a modern existence and embraces a patriarchal society of traditional farming with its own distinct community values and rules. No time is spent by the author analysing strengths and weaknesses of this particular way of life and its values and there is no defence or criticism of the evident hypocrisy of people who live secret and parallel lives within it. As a group, we asked if the ‘Plain Truth’ was based on their truth or the author’s perception of it.


The abundance of research for this novel, in respect of the Amish was felt highly commendable. We learnt about their day to day existence, their dependence on farming for their income and how their religious beliefs affected their behaviour.


Despite the seriousness of the allegations and the morality issues involved, this novel is lightweight. We agreed that the characters are inconsequential and uninspiring.


To us, it was frustrating that no moral stand was taken on either the lawyer representing guilty clients to achieve verdicts of innocence, or the lawyer making a conscious decision to conceal the truth and leave a killer unpunished. The author also skirts around offering a conclusion to the story which made us wonder if she was allowing herself an opportunity to pursue a sequel.


Jodi Picoult, as a very popular successful author, appears undaunted in her vast range of subject matter. Unfortunately her plot for ‘Plain Truth’ appears shallow under our book worms’ scrutiny and reviewing it undervalues the effort made in its development. Some of us have read other (if not all) of her books and agreed that this was one of her weakest. It lacks punch, drama and limps towards an unimpressive, uninspired ending.


We gave it an average mark of 5.5