The Pact: A Love Story

by Jodi Picoult

Overview

“Engrossing...The Pact is compelling reading.”—People

In this heart-rending tale of love and friendship, Jodi Picoult brings to life a familiar world, and in a single terrifying moment awakens every parent’s worst fear: We think we know our children . . . but do we ever really know them at all?

The Golds and the Hartes, neighbors for eighteen years, have always been inseparable. So have their children—and it’s no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily’s friendship blossoms into something more. But the bonds of family, friendship, and passion—which had seemed so indestructible—suddenly threaten to unravel in the wake of unimaginable tragedy.

When midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the truth. Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There’s a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris pilfered from his father’s cabinet—a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris describes.

This extraordinary, poignant novel paints an indelible portrait of two families in anguish . . . and creates an astonishingly suspenseful courtroom drama as Chris is put on trial for murder.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060858803
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/21/2006
Series:	P.S. Series
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	54,701
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

JODI PICOULT is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-six novels. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the New England Bookseller Award for Fiction, the ALA’s Alex Award, the New Hampshire Literary Award for Outstanding Literary Merit, and the prestigious Sarah Josepha Hale Award in recognition of her distinguished body of written work. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband. They have three children. You can visit her website at wwww.jodipicoult.com

 

Hometown:

Hanover, New Hampshire

Date of Birth:

May 19, 1966

Place of Birth:

Nesconset, Long Island, NY

Education:

A.B. in Creative Writing, Princeton University; M.A. in Education, Harvard University

Website:

http://www.jodipicoult.com/

Editorial Reviews

"Picoult always tells both sides of a story not with judgment, but with grace.” 

Washington Post

It’s hard to exaggerate how well Picoult writes.” 

Financial Times

It’s hard to exaggerate how well Picoult writes.”  — Financial Times

“Picoult is a skilled wordsmith, and she beautifully creates situations that not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us.”  — Boston Globe

"Picoult always tells both sides of a story not with judgment, but with grace.”  — Washington Post

“Picoult is a writer who understands her characters inside and out.”  — Roxane Gay, New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

It’s hard to exaggerate how well Picoult writes.” 

Financial Times

"Picoult always tells both sides of a story not with judgment, but with grace.” 

Washington Post

Picoult is a skilled wordsmith, and she beautifully creates situations that not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us.” 

Boston Globe

Picoult is a writer who understands her characters inside and out.” 

Roxane Gay