Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
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June Nealon had had to deal with more than her share of tragedy when her husband was killed in a car accident. June then had to raise her daughter on her own, until Kurt Nealon entered their lives. June thought she had a second chance at a happy life when she and Kurt married and were expecting their own child. In a frenzy to remodel their house to make room for their growing family, the Nealons hired freelance carpenter Shay Bourne to work on their project. Unspeakable tragedy struck once again when Bourne murders June’s daughter, Elizabeth, and her cop husband, Kurt. June is left once again to raise her new baby daughter alone.
Fast forward eleven years and Elizabeth’s sister, Claire, needs a heart transplant. Shay Bourne, now a death-row inmate, volunteers to donate his heart after he is executed, as one last chance for salvation. Torn by the agonizing wait for a heart that will save her daughter’s life, and the vengeful desire to see Bourne sent to the electric chair, June Nealon wrestles with this painful decision.
Woven into this mesmerizing story are Picoult’s typical recipe of volatile social issues such as the death penalty, bioethics, and religious dogma set against the plight of a child’s struggle with life and death. And there is also Picoult’s signature surprise twist in the plot at the end of the book.
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