Sage Singer is a baker. She works through the night, preparing the day’s breads
and pastries, trying to escape a reality of loneliness, bad memories, and the
shadow of her mother’s death. When Josef Weber, an elderly man in Sage’s grief
support group, begins stopping by the bakery, they strike up an unlikely
friendship. Despite their differences, they see in each other the hidden scars
that others can’t, and they become companions. Everything changes on the day that Josef confesses a long-buried and shameful secret—one that nobody else in town would ever suspect—and asks Sage for an extraordinary favor. If she says yes, she faces not only moral repercussions, but potentially legal ones as well. With her own identity suddenly challenged, and the integrity of the closest friend she’s ever had clouded, Sage begins to question the assumptions and expectations she’s made about her life and her family. When does a moral choice become a moral imperative? And where does one draw the line between punishment and justice, forgiveness and mercy?
In this searingly honest novel, Jodi Picoult gracefully explores the lengths we will go in order to protect our families and to keep the past from dictating the future.
All 7 of us attended at Leo's Chinese in Roseville. Most of us had read/finished the book and while a serious read, enjoyed it. Jan treated us to some mandarins after dinner. Thanks Jan.
