Picoult addresses same-sex marriage in ‘Sing You Home’

Author Jodi Picoult is well known for her novels that touch on subjects ripped from today’s headlines. Her new novel, “Sing You Home,” is no exception.

Covering topics from infertility to same-sex marriage, Picoult weaves a heart-wrenching story of love and loss that readers will not soon forget.

Zoe and Max have been trying to have a baby for some time. Finally, after years of treatments, Zoe is blissfully seven months pregnant. That is until something goes horribly wrong at her baby shower.

She ends up delivering a stillborn son, and she and Max are devastated. Sometime later, she decides to try again for another baby but Max has had it. He cannot deal with the invitro fertilization process anymore and decides to divorce Zoe.

In her grief, Zoe throws herself into her work as a music therapist. She begins spending time with Vanessa, a counselor at a high school. Zoe and Vanessa become fast friends, a relationship that soon develops into love.

Unable to wed in their home state of Rhode Island, Zoe and Vanessa get married in Massachusetts and start building a life together. Zoe remembers that she has three frozen embryos left at the clinic, and although she is unable to carry them, Vanessa can, and they begin to make plans for the IVF treatments. But they need Max's permission to use them.

Max, who has become a member of an ultra-conservation religious group, has other ideas. He does not believe that same-sex couples should have children and wants to give the embryos to his brother and sister-in-law who are having trouble conceiving naturally. He believes that as heterosexuals they are better fit to be parents.

What follows is a drama-packed, highly emotional trial that pits family against family, friend against friend as the battle over who is entitled to the embryos rages. In the end, the question remains — who would be the best parents, who would give the most love, and the answers that are reached are surprising.

With "Sing You Home," Picoult asks readers to consider what it means to be a parent and a family. Is one kind of love better than another? Who gets to decide who should have children and who shouldn’t, especially when those children are still frozen embryos? Told in the voices of Zoe, Vanessa and Max, the reader gets a good feel for all sides of the story and how it affects everyone.

Fans of Picoult’s work will find “Sing You Home” to be among her best. (However, it’s best to keep in mind that this is a book filled with controversial subjects.) This powerful novel is accompanied by a CD inspired by the story with songs written by Picoult and sung by Ellen Wilbur, which gives a three-dimensional feel to the overall story and reading experience.