Jodi Picoult: Picture Perfect
Fiction - Domestic violence/family saga
Published by Hodder & Stoughton 2010
Picture Perfect tells two stories that come to coincide and inter-link with each other. One is of a melancholic Indian man's plight, who is trying so hard to forget his past, wishing he could erase his roots, trying to confront the racist issues his faces, whilst living an ordinary life. It becomes apparent that Will Flying Horse has a big part to play, almost acting as a guardian angel and saviour for the abused Cassie. The main focus is on the seemingly perfect, storybook Hollywood marriage which, as the story develops, rather despairingly turns into a harsh reality of domestic violence as it is clear that not everything is as it first appeared. Despite Cassie's nightmarish life though, she is overcome with the gripping emotions of love, loyalty and care as she vouches to stay with her husband Alex. What makes their relationship so intense is Alex's propensity to perform as a modern-day Jekyll and Hyde.
Here, Picoult portrays hidden depths, showing the reality and complexity of human existence. Her complex characters are never exactly what they appear to be as the facade begins to crack with reality seeping through the hidden secrets, mysterious pasts and forgotten identities and ancestral histories.
Will Cassie finally escape or can the relationship return back to its initial fairy-tale beginning? Either way, something has to change as it is clear Cassie cannot survive much longer in her current predicament.
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