Jodi Picoult has a unique gift. She takes situations in which one expects little moral ambiguity and peels away the easy layers, revealing conflicts much more equivocal than they initially seem. Her novels center on issues that could be ripped from the headlines – a mother’s reaction to the sexual abuse of her child, the applied ethics around organ and tissue donation.
“The Tenth Circle” is absolutely the thought-provoking and topical novel readers have come to expect. What comes as a surprise is just how thoroughly the book twists the reader’s heart.
Daniel Stone didn’t grow up easily, but those trials are 15 years behind him. He was bullied mercilessly as a kid, the only white child in a remote Alaskan village. He fought back, first with his fists, then by drinking and robbing his way out of the wilderness. Now married and a stay-at-home dad to 14-year-old Trixie, he channels any dark remnants of his former life into his work. He’s a comic book artist, creator of a series titled “The Immortal Wildclaw.”
His marriage is rocky. His wife, Laura, is a college professor, and of late she’s found solace with one of her students. It’s a difficult situation, but nothing can touch Daniel’s devotion to his daughter.
Trixie, a freshman in high school, seems to be a model daughter. Popular, pretty and a straight-A student, she has a boyfriend, Jason, who’s a junior and the star of the hockey team. She’s wilder than her parents know, not a good thing but hardly unusual for high school students. But when Jason decides they should see other people, Trixie is devastated, leading her to desperate means to regain his affection. An unsupervised party and alcohol result in an accusation of date rape. The consequences devastate more lives than simply those of the members of the Stone family.
“The Tenth Circle” contains parallel stories. The first is the expected narrative with its unexpected turns, tracing the repercussions of the rape on Trixie, her parents and her former boyfriend. He pleads innocence, maintaining the act was consensual. Students at the high school – indeed, much of the town – seem to come down on the side of their hockey star. Trixie is ostracized as a troublemaker, leading her to withdraw even farther from any support she might have received from family and friends.
The second, unexpected strand involves a graphic novel that is contained within the pages of “The Tenth Circle.” Daniel’s work-in-progress takes his superhero, Wildclaw, through the circles of hell found in Dante’s “Inferno.” As Wildclaw seeks to rescue his daughter, who has been stolen by Lucifer, he passes through circles of torture that reflect the pain of his own struggles, with his daughter, with his marriage and with his past.
The two narratives circle around and reinforce each other, to wrenching effect. Daniel can’t talk of his sorrow, betrayal or rage. He instead does a powerful job of inking them onto the pages of his graphic novel.
“The Tenth Circle” is not an easy read for parents, particularly those with teens. The desperate social scene, one of drinking and drugs, cutting, parties and friends with benefits makes for difficult reading. Picoult allows her adult characters to eventually acknowledge their denial while also asking the reader if she knows what her kids are up to.
Also painful are the bright anger and guilt that Daniel and Laura Stone face as a consequence of the attacks on their daughter. Picoult is brutally convincing in her portrayal of the parental reaction to their child’s pain.
Picoult does a bang-up job on the narrative approach she’s known for. She leads readers to consider thorny issues around motives and consequences.
In “The Tenth Circle,” some of the issues revolve around accusations of rape and the systems that start up once the accusation has been made. Others involve parental responsibility and letting go. The ultimate question, though, involves how one might overcome the damage inflicted by self-deception. It’s a large question and one Picoult wisely only hints at answering.
Robin Vidimos is a freelance writer who reviews books for The Denver Post and Buzz in the ‘Burbs.
The Tenth Circle
By Jodi Picoult
Atria, 385 pages, $26
