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Jodi Picoult

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The Pact: A Love Story Kindle Edition

by Jodi Picoult (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 19,267 ratings

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“Engrossing...The Pact is compelling reading.”—People

In this heart-rending tale of love and friendship, Jodi Picoult brings to life a familiar world, and in a single terrifying moment awakens every parent’s worst fear: We think we know our children . . . but do we ever really know them at all?

The Golds and the Hartes, neighbors for eighteen years, have always been inseparable. So have their children—and it’s no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily’s friendship blossoms into something more. But the bonds of family, friendship, and passion—which had seemed so indestructible—suddenly threaten to unravel in the wake of unimaginable tragedy.

When midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the truth. Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There’s a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris pilfered from his father’s cabinet—a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris describes.

This extraordinary, poignant novel paints an indelible portrait of two families in anguish . . . and creates an astonishingly suspenseful courtroom drama as Chris is put on trial for murder.

Print length

397 pages
Language

English
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HarperCollins e-books
Publication date

November 5, 2008
File size

3090 KB
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

From Jodi Picoult, one of the most powerful writers in contemporary fiction, comes a riveting, timely, heartbreaking, and terrifying novel of families in anguish -- and friendships ripped apart by inconceivable violence. Until the phone calls came at 3:00 a.m. on a November morning, the Golds and their neighbors, the Hartes, had been inseparable. It was no surprise to anyone when their teenage children, Chris and Emily, began showing signs that their relationship was moving beyond that of lifelong friends. But now seventeen-year-old Emily has been shot to death by her beloved and devoted Chris as part of an apparent suicide pact -- leaving two devastated families stranded in the dark and dense predawn, desperate for answers about an unthinkable act and the children they never really knew.

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Review

“It’s hard to exaggerate how well Picoult writes.” — Financial Times

“Picoult is a skilled wordsmith, and she beautifully creates situations that not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us.” — Boston Globe

"Picoult always tells both sides of a story not with judgment, but with grace.” — Washington Post

“Picoult is a writer who understands her characters inside and out.” — Roxane Gay, New York Times Book Review

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Pact

A Love StoryBy Jodi Picoult

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Copyright ©2006 Jodi Picoult
All right reserved.
ISBN: 006085880X

Now

November 1997

There was nothing left to say.

He covered her body with his, and as she put her arms around him she could picture him in all his incarnations: age five, and still blond; age eleven, sprouting; age thirteen, with the hands of a man. The moon rolled, sloe-eyed in the night sky; and she breathed in the scent of his skin. "I love you," she said.

He kissed her so gently she wondered if she had imagined it. She pulled back slightly, to look into his eyes.

And then there was a shot.

Continues...
Excerpted from The Pactby Jodi Picoult Copyright ©2006 by Jodi Picoult. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

JODI PICOULT is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-six novels. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the New England Bookseller Award for Fiction, the ALA’s Alex Award, the New Hampshire Literary Award for Outstanding Literary Merit, and the prestigious Sarah Josepha Hale Award in recognition of her distinguished body of written work. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband. They have three children. You can visit her website at wwww.jodipicoult.com

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Teenage suicide is the provocative topic that Picoult plumbs, with mixed results, in her fifth novel. Popular high-school swimming star Chris Harte and talented artist Em Gold bonded as infants; their parents have been next-door neighbors and best friends for 18 years. When they fall in love, everyone is ecstatic. Everyone, it turns out, except for Em, who finds that sex with Chris feels almost incestuous. Her emotional turmoil, compounded by pregnancy, which she keeps secret, leads to depression, despair and a desire for suicide, and she insists that Chris prove his love by pulling the trigger. The gun is fired in the first paragraph, and so the book opens with a jolt of adrenaline. But Picoult stumbles in delineating both sets of parents' responses to the tragedy. Unconvincing behavior and dialogue inappropriate to the situation (plus, most importantly, the fact that the parents fail to discuss crucial topics) never touch the essence of bereavement and thus destroy credibility. Picoult redeems herself in flashbacks that reveal the two marital relationships and the personalities of both couples; and she sensitively explores the question of how well parents can ever know their children. After Chris is accused of murder and jailed, the narrative acquires impressive authenticity and suspense, with even the minor characters evoked with Picoult's keen eye for telling detail. The courtroom scenes (reminiscent of Picoult's 1996 novel, Mercy), are taut and well paced. Readers may remain unconvinced, however, that an intelligent young man like Chris would not have sought some help rather than respond to his lover's desperate request. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections; foreign rights sold in Germany, France, Poland and Norway.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

In this brooding fourth novel, Picoult (Picture Perfect, 1995, etc.) creates an affecting study of obsession, loss, and some of the more wrenching varieties of guilt. It all begins with a failed suicide pact between two teenagers: Emily Gold dies, but the precise motivations behind her death remain obscure. And who pulled the trigger? Her boyfriend Chris Harte, who survives because of having faintedapparentlybefore he could kill himself, seems unwilling to offer an explanation. Zipping back and forth through time, the story traces the growth of the long, complex relationship between the kids. When the two families first settle down next to each other, the Hartes and Golds seem meant for each other: Both families are upper-class New Englanders; both the husbands are doctors; both the wives are pregnantand so in a sense the pairing of Chris and Emily takes place even before their birth. Eventually, they sleep in the same bassinet, go on to develop their own secret language, accompany each other everywhere and, when they become adolescents, are inevitably drawn into a fervid romance. While it seems inconceivable that Chris could have killed Emily, a preponderance of forensic evidence suggests that it just may be. On his 18th birthday, Chris is hauled off to jail and the perfect harmony between the families instantly dissolves. Melanie Gold, unable to accept the notion that her perfect daughter could have been suicidal, focuses her anger on the murderer next door, and, emotionally, James Harte disinherits his son, whos now a liability to the doctor's prestigious career. Chris himself, saddled with a hot-shot lawyer more interested in building a case than in hearing the truth, sinks into despair. The trial scenes, alternating rapid-fire testimony with flashbacks to the actual suicide, are particularly powerful, and what Chris finally says when he takes the stand comes, thanks to Picoult's skill, as a considerable surprise. A moving story, mingling elements of mystery with sensitive exploration of a tragic subject. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Booklist

Picoult is a writer of high energy and conviction who has, in her fifth novel, brought to life a cast of subtly drawn characters caught up in a tragedy as timeless and resonant as those of the Greeks or Shakespeare. That is not to say that Picoult is anything but accessible; in fact, this psychologically shrewd tale is as suspenseful as any best-selling legal thriller. The Hartes and the Golds, professional folk living next door in an affluent New Hampshire town, are close friends, and their children, the Hartes' son, Chris, and Emily Gold, were born just weeks apart. Inseparable all through childhood, they slipped from the haven of intimate friendship into the tempestuous realm of love in high school, a transition their parents fully expected and welcomed. But Emily is secretly appalled by the incestuous nature of her relationship with Chris, and when she discovers that she is pregnant, she can imagine only one solution: suicide. Chris is with her when she dies and is consequently charged with her murder. As Picoult takes us through the nightmare that follows, examining each character's struggle with guilt and sorrow, she forges a finely honed, commanding, and cathartic drama. Donna Seaman --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001KDQ4KQ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins e-books (November 5, 2008)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 5, 2008
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3090 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 397 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #40,868 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #302 in Contemporary Literary Fiction
- #358 in Women's Literary Fiction
- #533 in Mothers & Children Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.4 19,267 ratings

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Jodi Picoult

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Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-eight novels, including Wish You Were Here, The Book of Two Ways, A Spark of Light, Small Great Things, Leaving Time, and My Sister's Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Picoult lives in New Hampshire.

Her next novel, Mad Honey, co-written with Jennifer Finney Boylan, is available on October 11th.

Follow Jodi Picoult on Intagram, Twitter, and Facebook: @jodipicoult

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BobJac

A Touchy Subject

Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2023

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The Hartes and the Golds lived in the semi rural part of the New Hampshire town of Bainbridge. As next door neighbors the two families became close friends. Augusta (Gus) and James Harte had a son, Chris, and 6 months later Melanie and Michael Gold had a daughter, Emily. Chris and Emily grew up together and became inseparable. The families were the best of friends.
Chris was a champion swimmer and a straight A student. Emily was interested in pursuing a career in art. They were both in their last year at high school and were preparing for their college futures.
Early one morning both sets of parents received a phone call advising them that their children were admitted to the local hospital. Emily had died from a gunshot wound and Chris was suffering from a head injury requiring 70 stitches. Investigations suggested that Chris had shot Emily with his dad’s gun and was subsequently charged with first degree murder. He was adamant that she was suicidal and her death was a suicide pact between them which went horribly wrong.
After being charged with murder Chris was held without bail, and was sent to the country prison awaiting trial. Jordan McAfee was hired as his defense attorney. As Chris dealt with life in prison the closeness of the families fell apart. Melanie Gold was convinced Chris murdered her daughter. She and Michael saw no signs whatsoever that Emily was suicidal. Gus Harte stood by her son, convinced he was caught up in a suicide pact with Emily, and was innocent of murder. Jordan McAfee was defending Chris on that basis. But no one had asked Chris what really happened on that fateful night. What happened between Chris and Emily? Was Chris part of a suicide pact or did he willfully murder Emily?
Jodi Picoult takes on the touchy subject of teen suicide in this page turning novel.

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Phil.MacKenzie

Disturbing and Thought Provoking

Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2013

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Another interesting read by Jodi Picoult. It took me back to my own teen years and the thought process of a young adult. Jodi did a great job of explaining how intertwined these 2 teens' lives were, to the extent they felt each others physical & emotional pain. However, despite the self-centered nature of this age, I wasn't convinced that with their level of intelligence, at least one of them wouldn't have been able to reason out that Emily could have received counselling and possibly medication to help her overcome her depression and suicidal feelings, instead of drawing the conclusion that suicide was Emily's only option to end her pain (particularly since Chris had received some counselling of his own and had benefitted, even though he was skeptical and resistant at first). In addition, even though I don't need every book to tie everything together in a neat package at the end of the story, being a parent myself, I would like to have felt some closure with this story. I'm sure it was intentional on Jodi's part, but I couldn't decide why Emily felt so hopeless that she couldn't go on. Was it because she'd been molested at age 9, suppressed that memory and then had it come to light when she became sexually active with Chris? Was it because she loved Chris so much, she felt as though she was half of his whole and couldn't live without him, but she often felt their relationship seemed incest-like, since they'd basically been raised together and yet, when she got pregnant, couldn't endure the thought of a "forever" with him, for that very reason? This story brings the characters to life so well, I felt emotionally invested enough to want an answer to the question,"why?" Since Emily could not seem to verbally articulate her reasons to Chris while she was alive, perhaps she was able to explain it in her diary, leaving me to wonder if Emily's mother got answers when she found the diary. As a parent, I can only imagine the grief felt by the parents and their need to have a reason for this tragedy, with someone to blame. Saying that, they knew Chris since the day he was born, lived next door to his family and helped raise him as their own child. Emily's mother, Melanie, found some answers (possibly all?) in Emily's diary (the full contents were not shared with us) How could Melanie then burn the diary & let Chris take the blame for murdering Emily?

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Tsanche

One of Picoult's Best

Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2009

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Originally released in 1997, "The Pact," is probably one of Jodi Picoult's best known works. It has garnered a pretty strong cult following. As a result it's one of those books we can say has a love it or hate it relationship. There are few who will find themselves in between. Love it or hate it, one can't deny how much Picoult's novel opens the door to a very serious issue.

The Golds and the Hartes have been friends for a long time. They're next door neighbors who have become close. Their children Emily Gold and Christopher Harte have become close over the years, and it comes as no surprise to their parents. Then, out of the blue, Emily Gold kills herself in what was apparently supposed to be a suicide pact between Emily and Chris. Now Emily is dead, and Chris is alive and well, and he's the only one who has any answers. Now Emily's parents are trying to find out what happened to their daughter, and are also wondering just how well they knew her, while Chris is up to his neck in a legal squabble. The friendship between the two families that seemed eternal suddenly comes crashing down, as both sets of parents come to the realization that they didn't know their children quite as well as they thought.

Needless to say, there's a lot of drama in Picoult's novel, and a lot of emotional turmoil. Jodi Picoult is no stranger to dealing with tough issues and exploring them. The Pact is no different, but here Jodi Picoult goes further into the heart of the matter. By exploring not just how the character cope with Emily's suicide, but also what lead Emily to do it in the first place. The book plays out by alternating between the past and the present. The reader literally gets to know Emily's life story. We're there from the moment she is born, to the moment all the way to her death. As a result, the reader really gets to know Emily Gold. And not just Emily Gold. We get to know Chris Harte as well. In fact, we get to know every character and they all become incredibly well developed. Sometimes a little too much. We learn a little bit more about some characters than we'd care to know. At times Picoult can carry on about a character, but at least she keeps it interesting.

However, the story moves at a smooth pace. The read is, overall, a fairly quick one. And the drama keeps coming with all the twists and turns. It's hard not to feel Picoult pulling at your heart strings. All the drama and characters lead to a pretty big conclusion. In the past, Jodi Picoult has sometimes come to implausible conclusions. You might get a similar feeling here. The book is very enjoyable, and the conclusion is even alright, although it isn't entirely believable.

The writing stands firm. It's very well written with elegant prose and vivid descriptions. Sometimes you get the sense that Picoult is providing too much description. At the very least you'll never feel drowned out in it. The dialog is also nice, coming off as very natural rather than scripted.

The Pact is a very nice book that's filled with very lovable characters. Its sure to spark a bit of discussion among readers. It's a very likable book that is filled with it's own charms. It is one of Picoult's best.

5 people found this helpful

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Bikermum2687

Heart breaking

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 27, 2023

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What a truly beautiful story. The tragic story of young love pain and the never answered questions. You never know how things are and how quickly love can change.

Anne

The pact,

Reviewed in France on September 28, 2018

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excellent livre. A lire.

One person found this helpful

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MrsBTS

A thoroughly good read and like all her books

Reviewed in India on July 21, 2016

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Jodi picoult has really outdone herself again . A thoroughly good read and like all her books, gives you a lot to think about.

Mary L. Laudien

A Heart-Breaking Page Turner

Reviewed in Canada on March 11, 2013

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Too many people are touched by the reality of teen suicide and there is a need to understand how this could possibly happen. Jodi Picoult's novel creates a story that presents a realistic and possible situation. The characters are believable and how they cope and live through their reactions, relationships, heartbreak, anger, grief and despair keeps the reader actively engaged with the story. In fact, "The Pact" keeps one having to know what really happened. The suspense created through the character development ensures readers experience suicide through the perspective of these fictional parents and their teenagers. Parent readers will find this story frightening. No matter how close one may be with their teenager, do we really know him/her?

One person found this helpful

Tia

Moving

Reviewed in Spain on June 23, 2014

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I find that the book has its ups and downs. I got a little bogged down with legal proceedings at times, but the nearer I got to the end, the more difficult it became to put it down.

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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Pact

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Now

About the Author

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Jodi Picoult

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