2018 Jun 29
Jack St. Bride was once a beloved teacher at a private girls’ school- until a student’s crush sparked a powder keg of accusation and robbed him of his career and reputation.
After a devastatingly public ordeal that left him with an eight-month jail sentence and no job, Jack resolved to pick up the pieces of his life. He takes a job washing dishes at Addie Peabody’s diner in the quiet New England village of Salem Falls and slowly starts to form a relationship with her.
But a quartet of teenage girls harbours dark secrets- and they maliciously target Jack with a shattering allegation. Now, at the center of a modern-day witch hunt, Jack is forced once again to proclaim his innocence: to a town searching for answers, to a justice system where truth becomes a slippery concept written in shades of grey, and to the woman who has come to love him.
The man you love is accused of rape. It’s not the first time. What would you do?
One of Picoult’s finer works, Salem Falls tells the story of an incredibly intelligent man struck by the immense bad luck of being accused of rape, not once but twice in his life. As in many of her other books, you get the chance to understand the perspectives of the main characters. This, however, means that as the story progresses at some point you’ll find yourself torn between who to believe, because this is not your average account of rape.
Set in the small and presumably safe town of Salem Falls, New Hampshire where nothing ever really happens, and everyone knows everyone, the arrival of Jack St. Bride, an accused sexual offender, changes everything not only for the tightly knit community of Salem Falls who begin to doubt and fear for the safety their children, but especially for Addie who finds herself falling in love with the man who came out of nowhere and helped her out with her beloved diner.
With the inclusion of a coven of teenage ‘witches’, lust, love and lies, Jodi Picoult has managed to wield a novel that will have you flipping pages, eager to know what really happened and what happens next. The ending in particular may leave you a tad bit confused. All in all, Salem Falls is a great read and is a must-read if you’re a fan of Jodi Picoult’s novels!
Rating: 3.9/5
