Review of Jodi Picoult's Salem Falls
A Modern Witch Hunt With a Difference
Salem Falls is a quiet village in New England, a place where parents live secure in the knowledge that their children can play safely. Into this respectable haven comes Jack St. Bride, a former teacher who has just been released from prison and has ended up in Salem Falls completely by chance: as his taxi passes through, a diner looking like a “junked railroad car” catches his eye and he decides this will be his new home.
A Fresh Start in Salem Falls
The diner belongs to Addie Peabody, a young woman whose life is no more straightforward that Jack’s. She too has a traumatic past, and almost immediately forms an intimacy with Jack: he gradually confides in her how his life has been virtually ruined by untrue accusations made by a female student in his previous school. Salem Falls and Addie represent his chance of a fresh start.
The residents of Salem Falls have other ideas. The news that Jack has registered as a sex offender with the local police soon leaks out, and he finds himself abused both verbally and physically. Worse still, he has caught the eye of sixteen-year-old Gillian Duncan, daughter of the most powerful man in Salem Falls, and also the leader of a group of schoolgirls interested in magic. When Jack spurns her advances, she resolves to ensnare him one way or another, and sets in motion of chain of events that proves unstoppable.
Update of Miller's Crucible
The premise is an interesting one, particularly as Picoult has updated Arthur Miller’s famous play The Crucible with a crucial difference – whilst the idea of the witch hunt remains central, this time the teenage witches are the ones leading the pursuit against someone who is an outsider for other reasons.
At times, the book is an uncomfortable read, as Jack, largely innocent of any wrong doing, is hunted down by the inhabitants of a village where the veneer of respectability gradually wears away to reveal the evil and corruption beneath. Most of the characters are convincingly drawn, with some memorable supporting players such as Addie’s troubled father Roy.
The Truth Will Out
This is a story where nearly everyone has secrets, and Picoult doesn’t deviate from the successful formula that has stood her in such good stead so far – the truth is gradually revealed, and events climax in a lengthy court case, this time handled by Jordan McAfee who readers may also know from recent novel Nineteen Minutes.
Whilst there is nothing new here, Picoult’s smooth narrative style remains as enjoyable as ever, and it is impossible not to care about Jack’s fate by the end of the court case. The twist on the final page leaves the reader with the uncomfortable feeling that corruption runs even deeper in this village than could ever have been imagined.
SalemFalls by Jodi Picoult is published in the UK by Hodder (paperback edition 2005), ISBN 0-340-83553-2.
Cover of Picoult's Salem Falls
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