This post was originally published on Audible.com.
By now, you’ve probably heard of Jodi Picoult and her stellar reputation in the world of contemporary fiction. Picoult’s novels explore topical issues through compelling and deeply affecting stories that are often known for inspiring listeners to shed a tear. But Picoult is such a prolific writer that it can be difficult to know which audiobook to listen to first. What are Picoult’s best novels? And where should someone who is new to Jodi Picoult’s work start? Here are my suggestions for the best Jodi Picoult audiobooks—the ones that should absolutely go on your listening list straight away.
Small Great Things
If you're looking to expand your understanding of one of the most important contemporary issues—which is something Jodi Picoult stories are always great for—then this should be where you start. Small Great Things is an audiobook that examines racism and privilege in America today. Ruth is a labor and delivery nurse with 20 years of experience. She is well-respected at her Connecticut hospital, so she's taken aback when a white supremacist couple requests a new nurse and refuses to let Ruth touch their child. But when Ruth finds herself alone in the nursery with the couple's baby, she's forced to make a choice. The baby goes into cardiac arrest, and Ruth hesitates before performing CPR. As a result, the parents sue her for her actions. As the case goes to trial and her lawyer insists that race not become an issue in the courtroom, questions of race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion all come to the forefront. And there are no easy answers. This novel is narrated by Audra McDonald, Cassandra Campbell, and Ari Fliakos, each of whom brings the passion and contemplativeness that the story deserves.
Small Great Things
(Narrator TBD) Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse at a Connecticut hospital with more than 20 years' experience. During her shift, Ruth begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that she's been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and don't want Ruth, who is African-American, to touch their child. The hospital complies with their request, but the next day the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. Does she obey orders, or does she intervene?
Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and as a result is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice: Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedy's counsel, Ruth tries to keep life as normal as possible for her family -- especially her teenage son -- as the case becomes a media sensation. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each other's trust and come to see that what they've been taught their whole lives about others -- and themselves -- might be wrong.
My Sister's Keeper
Next up, we should go ahead and get the most famous Jodi Picoult audiobook out of the way. If you’re wanting to hear the audiobook that introduced most people to Picoult’s work, that’s going to be My Sister’s Keeper. This heart-wrenching novel explores an impossibly difficult family situation. After Kate’s parents discover she has leukemia, they have a second child, Anna, specifically to be a bone marrow match for her sister. Anna’s life becomes a series of medical procedures and doctor visits, all with the purpose of keeping her sister Kate alive. After a while, Anna decides enough is enough, and she sues her parents for rights to her own body. If you love audiobooks with multiple narrators, you’ll love My Sister’s Keeper’s cast of talented narrators: Richard Poe, Julia Gibson, Barbara McCulloh, Tom Stechschulte, Carol Monda, Jennifer Ikeda, and Andy Paris.
My Sister's Keeper
By Jodi Picoult
Narrated by Richard Poe, Julia Gibson, Barbara McCulloh, Tom Stechschulte, Carol Monda, Jennifer Ikeda, Andy Paris
My Sister's Keeper
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age 13 she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight leukemia....
A Spark of Light
Next, why not hop on over to A Spark of Light? Since Jodi Picoult's novels examine contemporary issues, it makes sense to listen to her most contemporary book as soon as possible. And this one is definitely relevant right now, as it covers an issue that divides our country: a woman’s right to choose. This novel is told in reverse order, looking at the events that lead to a gunman bursting into a women’s reproductive health services clinic and taking everyone hostage. Bahni Turpin narrates this novel, and as always, her performance is absolutely perfect for the story.
A Spark of Light
The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center - a women’s reproductive health services clinic. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage....
Nineteen Minutes
While we're on the subject of novels that feel incredibly relevant to contemporary issues, here's one in which Picoult tackles school shootings. Sterling is just another small town in New Hampshire until a school shooting rocks the small community. As the trial following this violent act commences, the novel explores the nuances of high school dynamics, bullying, trauma, and the divide between children and adults. This audiobook is narrated by Audie Award winner Carol Monda.
Nineteen Minutes
Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens - until the day its complacency is shattered by an act of violence....
The Pact
This next title is another one of Jodi Picoult's most popular books. And if you're a listener who generally enjoys mystery fiction, then this will probably be your favorite of Picoult's novels. In this audiobook, narrated by George Guidall, Picoult tells the story of two teenagers, Emily and Chris, who grew up next door to one another and became close friends—and then more than friends. When Emily is found dead from a gunshot in the head, Chris claims they had a suicide pact—and the remaining bullet in his father’s gun was meant for him. Soon, Chris is on trial, and the community is eager to find out what happened to Emily. The novel alternates between a present-day timeline and past events that give context to Emily and Chris's relationship. In the end, both timelines bring us to a stunning conclusion.
The Pact
The Hartes and the Golds have been neighbors for 18 years and are very close. So when Chris and Emily's friendship reaches the next level, nobody is surprised. Then one night, the hospital calls....
Handle with Care
Here's another Jodi Picoult audiobook performed by multiple narrators, which, when done well, is something I always enjoy—it keeps the story interesting and fresh while helping to make the individual characters come alive. The narrators (Cassandra Morris, Charlotte Perry, Alma Cuervo, Celeste Ciulla, Jessica Almasy, and Jim Colby) do an excellent job of embodying the characters. When Willow is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, Charlotte and Sean know this will mean a lifetime of broken bones and pain, and they are devastated for their daughter. And the diagnosis forces Charlotte and Sean to ask themselves difficult questions: What if Charlotte had known earlier of Willow's illness? Would they have terminated the pregnancy? And what would their lives be like if Willow had never been born?
Handle with Care
Emotionally riveting and profoundly moving, Handle with Care is an unforgettable novel about the fragility of life and the lengths we will go to protect it....
House Rules
In this novel, Jodi Picoult tells the story of Jacob, an 18-year-old living with autism who is accused of murder. Jacob is obsessed with forensic analysis and often shows up at crime scenes. So when Jacob's tutor is murdered, people suspect he is involved. After all, Jacob exhibits suspicious behaviors. But are these behaviors necessarily signs of guilt? This is another Picoult novel that's expertly narrated by a larger cast of narrators: Mark Turetsky, Rich Orlow, Nicole Poole, Christopher Evan Welch, and Andy Paris.
House Rules
The astonishing novel from the number-one New York Times best-selling author Jodi Picoult about a young boy with autism falsely accused of murder....
The Storyteller
The Storyteller is another of Jodi Picoult's most popular novels, in part because of the complicated moral dilemmas she covers in this story. Sage Singer forges a strong friendship with 90-year-old Josef Weber, a Little League coach and retired teacher. But then Josef comes to Sage with a bizarre request: he wants her to kill him. You see, Sage’s grandmother is a Holocaust survivor, and Josef Weber used to be a Nazi. Narrators Mozhan Marno, Jennifer Ikeda, Edoardo Ballerini, Suzanne Toren, and Fred Berman take turns performing this book, offering their own unique inflections and emotions to the story in a way that keeps the momentum going.
The Storyteller
By Jodi Picoult
Narrated by Mozhan Marno, Jennifer Ikeda, Edoardo Ballerini, Suzanne Toren, Fred Berman
The Storyteller
In The Storyteller, Sage Singer befriends Josef Weber, a beloved Little League coach and retired teacher. But then Josef asks Sage for a favor she never could have imagined....
The Tenth Circle
Carol Monda, the narrator of Nineteen Minutes, also narrates The Tenth Circle. If you like your novels with a nice helping of family drama, then this is the Jodi Picoult book for you. High school freshman Trixie Stone was once sure she was madly in love with Jason Underhill. Then an act of violence changes everything. But everyone in town is quick to take Jason's side when Trixie accuses him of raping her at a party. Trixie's father Daniel seems like a mild-mannered comic book artist who couldn't hurt a fly, but will all of that change when he has to protect his daughter? And what secrets is he himself hiding?
The Tenth Circle
Fourteen-year-old Trixie Stone is in love for the first time. She's also the light of her father Daniel's life - a straight-A student; a pretty, popular freshman in high school....
Salem Falls
If you're interested in Picoult stories that examine rape culture, Salem Falls is a more recent audiobook that also covers this topic from a very different perspective. In this listen, narrated by Julia Gibson, a prep school teacher is accused of rape by a group of young girls. Now, in an attempt to escape his past life and start over, Jack St. Bride works as a dishwasher for Addie Peabody at the Do-or-Diner in Salem Falls. Addie soon finds that she's growing a soft spot for the man, but four teenage girls have secrets and they've set their sights on Jack.
Salem Falls
A handsome stranger comes to the sleepy New England town of Salem Falls in hopes of burying his past: Once a teacher at a girls' prep school, Jack St. Bride was destroyed....
Mercy
Last but certainly not least is Mercy, a novel that is currently free with Audible Escape. This book takes on another extremely difficult topic with no easy answers: assisted suicide. When he is forced to arrest his cousin, Jamie, police chief Cameron McDonald is faced with a moral dilemma. Jamie has admitted to Cameron that he killed his wife, who was in severe pain due to her terminal cancer. When the case goes to trial, Cameron and his wife, Allie, find themselves on different sides of the debate. Allie admires Jamie for loving his wife enough to kill her when she needed him to do so, while Cameron cannot understand that reasoning. Meanwhile, a strange woman arrives in town, further threatening Cameron's marriage.
Mercy
Cameron has lived in idyllic Wheelock, Mass. for most of his life, as has his beloved wife Allie. Their comfortable lives are thrown into tumult when Cam's distant cousin arrives in town....
Emily Martin earned her PhD at the University of Southern Mississippi. She works as a contributor for Book Riot and as a blogger/podcaster at Book Squad Goals.
