BOOK REVIEW: Perfect Match

Author Jodie Picoult is known for her intense novels. Her subject material always seems to be pulled from tomorrow’s headlines. PERFECT MATCH was published in 2002, but is very relevant to Central Pennsylvania in 2012.

Nina Frost is a career-driven assistant district attorney who spends most of her work day prosecuting child molesters. Her job has made her very aware of the legal loopholes that allow these criminals to walk free or to spend little time behind bars while their victims spend a lifetime recovering.

She has a comfortable life with her husband Caleb and their five-year old son Nathaniel. The routine of this life is shattered when Nathaniel is traumatized by a sexual assault. Nina knows too well how the legal system can fail. A very young victim runs the chance of not being believed, plus testifying can be traumatic to a child because it is a reliving of the experience.

Ignoring her long held convictions and turning her own life upside down, Nina takes the situation into her own hands, shooting the suspect during the trial. The results affect her marriage, her professional life, her friendships, and her already distressed five-year old son.

Once again Jodie Picoult raises difficult moral and ethical questions for the reader. How far does a parent go to find justice and how much are we willing to sacrifice for our child? Are we willing to go as far as to kill another human being?

If you are familiar with Jodie Picoult’s writings, you know that nothing is as simple as it appears. As in her other books this story is told in various voices. This gives the reader a glimpse into the heads of not only Nina, but also her husband Caleb, her best friend Patrick, the prosecutor Quentin Brown, and, most touchingly of all, Nathaniel himself.

The background involving the trial was very informative. Collecting evidence of sexual abuse, especially when the victim is very young, can be difficult. I also learned that even DNA is not always reliable evidence. It was almost as interesting to read Picoult’s comments on how she researched this subject as it was to read the novel.

Some of my favorite reads have been by this author and PERFECT MATCH did not disappoint. I have learned not to read back to back Jodie Picoult novels; they are too powerful.