In an event sponsored by Bank Square Books in Mystic, Luanne Rice — a Connecticut-based bestselling author — joined Jodi Picoult at the Garde Arts Center in an exciting political discussion regarding Picoult’s latest novel A Spark of Light and her upcoming projects. A Spark of Light tells the story of a woman’s reproductive health services clinic called “the Center”, where a gunman opens fire and takes everyone inside hostage. Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, is one of the first to the scene and begins a plan for negotiation with the gunman. He is horrified when he finds out that his 15-year-old daughter is inside the clinic. The novel is told through eight complex yet captivating narrative voices: Hugh, his daughter Wren, a clinic nurse, a doctor, a pro-life protester, and a young woman who has chosen to terminate her pregnancy.
Rice started the discussion by asking the ultimate question: why did Picoult write her book? Picoult expressed that A Spark of Light was inspired by her experience supporting a friend who terminated her pregnancy seven weeks into college. Years later, when Picoult herself was seven weeks pregnant and trying for her third child, she miscarried. Picoult struggled to cope with the idea that in trying to achieve pregnancy, she had already viewed her fetus as a child. She began to question her stance on termination and asked herself grander questions that ultimately illuminated the national abortion debate on reproductive rights.
A Spark of Light began with understanding general, accessible information about abortion in the United States. For example, Picoult learned that 1 out of 4 women will abort their own pregnancy in their lifetime, 88% of women terminate pregnancy within the first four weeks, 77% terminate pregnancy because they cannot afford to have a child, and 300 pieces of legislation have been passed in 2012 seeking to control the reproductive rights of women.
Picoult spent time shadowing abortion providers in Alabama and Minnesota. She was also present during three abortions: one at five weeks, one at eight weeks, and one at fifteen weeks. The first two abortions that she observed took three minutes each and provided “mucousy figures” as a result of the termination. The final abortion that she observed, however, lasted about seven minutes and contained more human features within the “mucous,” like small hands and elbows. The woman who decided to terminate at fifteen weeks was already a mother of three children that she could barely afford to provide food for. Picoult asked the audience: “Is she a poor mother or an excellent mother?”
Picoult went on to explain that pro-life civilians whom she interviewed almost always used the word “choice” when discussing abortion. She found this extremely interesting. Of the 151 women whom she interviewed who had abortions in their life, 150 did not regret their decision. However, every single one of them thought about it everyday. Less than 25 of those women did not want to be put in her book and 35 requested that they have a pseudonym.
One of the most moving moments of the event was when Picoult asked the audience to raise their hands if they knew someone who, or if they themselves, had an abortion. Nearly every single audience member raised their hand. She said, “It’s fun to give this talk in Connecticut, not in Oklahoma.” Picoult is discouraged by the fact that narratives are stolen from women, that men legislate women’s rights, that we still do not have enough women in Congress, and that white privilege dominates this legislation. Picoult said bluntly, “I don’t need you legislating my body if you can’t even legislate guns.” She described her discussions with women after her events in the South who would say that they had abortions, but were still “pro-life.” Picoult expressed that she “was glad that they had that choice when they needed it.”
Through tracking her mail, she found that 50% of her readership is male. While the event at the Garde Arts Center only had six male audience members, that certainly does not reflect the actuality of her readership. Since her 2016 novel Small Great Things, she explained that she’s received more death threats from pro-life people than white supremacists.
Rice asked Picoult, “Where do you go from here?” In a structured response, Picoult explained that abortion needs to be the last choice that a woman has. She asserted that there needs to be more preventative conception, along with free and easy access to birth control that is not controlled by the very vocal minority, mostly male, that try to impede on such access.
Picoult is politically concerned with many other factors that impede on access to birth control. For instance, raising the minimum wage, offering federally funded daycare, and removing penalties for having to leave work to give birth would instrumentally increase the choices that women have. Picoult stated, “Men need to be at the forefront of fixing this problem.” She mentioned that when “every single man in Congress has a mother,” legislation is hypocritical and contradictory.
On a much different note, Picoult revealed a secret to the audience. After working on a project for five years with her daughter and publishing Between the Lines together, the two will be creating an off-broadway show starting in April based on the book. The show, which she says is one of the hardest projects she’s ever completed, is about a young girl who finds her voice.
In a Q&A format, audience members had the opportunity to ask Picoult about particular novels, her writing processes, getting over writer’s block, and becoming published. Through her writing process, Picoult uses various narrative voices. She noted that in writing her last few books, she’s found herself outlining now more than ever. For instance, A Spark of Light originally had sixteen narrative voices until her editor made her cut it down to eight narrative voices. She used a 43-page outline that went through the story chronologically before she edited it backwards, the way that the novel was published.
The book that she is currently writing maintains a circular and linear timeline, which she has found herself using a 106-page single-spaced outline. Picoult advised one young woman in the audience to read novels that do not fit the genre she writes in. She stated that “writer’s block is for people who have the luxury of time.” In order to get over writer’s block, one must make deadlines for oneself. When first hoping to be published, Picoult was rejected by over 100 agents. She used her Creative Writing thesis as an undergraduate at Princeton as a time to write her first novel. To this day, Picoult still has the same agent, one whom had never represented anyone, but had faith in Picoult’s work.
Picoult explained that people and the media often make assumptions about her. For instance, that she received acclaim for her novel’s because she was “an Oprah pick” or a “New York Times Best Seller.” The fact of the matter is that Picoult wrote eight novels before achieving the New York Times Best Seller list, and it is truly her readership that has led her to where she is today. Her readership has listened to a CD in a book, read a comic book within a book, and received extremely controversial topics that are often hard to read. In 2022, Picoult plans to collaborate with Jennifer Boylan on a novel about trans rights.
The discussion ended on a similar, political note that reflected its beginning. An audience member asked Picoult why she wrote 19 Minutes, which examines a school shooting. Picoult reflected on an experience in junior high school when someone slammed her hand into a locker. She acknowledged that at some point, all of her children were bullied, and she was concerned that this bullying was taking place following the Columbine shooting. Picoult explained that the mail that she received from her readership after 19 Minutes was extremely moving and often troubling. A survivor of the Newtown shooting once asked Picoult, “Were you there?” It is within the tumultuous American politics that writers like Jodi Picoult reveal powerful and provocative truths about people we surround ourselves with every day. Her effort to explore contentious topics and the political polarization that exists in the United States through various topics and extensive writing processes reflects the power of student writing, which is at the root of Picoult’s success. •
