Bestselling American author, Jodi Picoult has a reputation for her engrossing novels that have won many awards. She has published nearly a book a year since 1992, and her books are known for their emotional depth and powerful themes.
She writes about subjects that keep her awake at night, from neonaticide to the death penalty, mercy killing, stem cell research, and gay rights. She also explores the complicated dynamics of family life in her novels, often using fiction as a way to examine deeply human issues.
Her characters are vividly drawn, and the stories she tells are always moving and full of emotion. She is especially adept at capturing the inner lives of her characters, and allowing them to reveal their deepest vulnerabilities and tap unexpected strengths.
If there’s a common theme in Picoult’s novels, it’s that “light trumps darkness,” and that’s what keeps her writing fresh and true. Her latest novel, SMALL GREAT THINGS (#1 New York Times bestseller), tackles the profoundly challenging yet essential concerns of our time: prejudice, race, and justice.
Picoult grew up in Nesconset, Long Island, and moved to New Hampshire with her family in 1986 to study writing at Princeton University. She wrote two short stories for Seventeen magazine as a college student and got a literary agent soon afterward. She graduated in 1987 and published her first novel, Songs of the Humpback Whale, in 1992. It was followed by several books on family life and relationships, including Harvesting the Heart, Picture Perfect, and Mercy.