In The Tenth Circle, Picoult explores the delicate moment in any child's life when they stumble upon the alarming discovery that our parents are not world-changing superheroes after all - and how the unbreakable bond between parent and child can often get stretched to the limit.
Daniel Stone was raised as the only white child in an Inuit village. Mercilessly teased because of the colour of his skin, his raging anger is only expressed through stealing and heavy drinking, until he finally decides to run away for good.
Fifteen years later he has reinvented himself as a docile and devoted husband and father, working as a comic book artist. His pretty, popular and intelligent daughter, Trixie, is the light of his life. She has also discovered love, and all that goes with it, for the very first time.
Everything turns topsy-turvy when Trixie gets date-raped, and Daniel finds his old rage boiling rapidly to the surface. As Trixie tries to deal with her conflicting emotions, Daniel's real-life feelings are spun out across the colourful graphics of his new comic. Cleverly weaving Dustin Weaver's illustrations throughout the novel, this is another compelling, thought-provoking read from Picoult. The numerous twists and turns force the ending to come all too suddenly as the book reaches its final, dramatic climax. Picoult will make you consider all the grey areas, in every shade and hue.
Shereen Low
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