The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

When Daniel Stone was a child, he was the only white boy in a native Eskimo village where his mother taught, and he was teased mercilessly because he was different. He fought back, the baddest of the bad kids: stealing, drinking, robbing and cheating his way out of the Alaskan bush - where he honed his artistic talent, fell in love with a girl and got her pregnant. To become part of a family, he reinvented himself - jettisoning all that anger to become a docile, devoted husband and father. Fifteen years later, when we meet Daniel again, he is a comic book artist. His wife teaches Dante's Inferno at a local college; his daughter, Trixie, is the light of his life - and a girl who only knows her father as the even-tempered, mild-mannered man he has been her whole life. Until, that is, she is date raped and Daniel finds himself struggling, again, with a powerlessness and a rage that may not just swallow him whole, but destroy his family and his future.

I adore Jodi Picoult, she is one of my all-time favourite authors. Each new book of hers that I read becomes my favourite, and The Tenth Circle is no exception. It is a masterpiece in characterisation and slowly building tension to what is a very realistic yet shocking conclusion. Picoult's strength lies in her ability to get inside the minds of her characters, whether it be a 40 year old single father or a 5 year old girl. She writes from each character's perspective in turn, giving the reader a thorough understanding of the complexities of human relationships. Her courage in tackling really difficult and controversial issues, where there is rarely a clear line between black and white, makes for compelling reading. In this book she tackles the issue of date rape and isolation - both teenage and adult - and forces you to consider the situation from every angle. I found it to be gripping to the point where I was trying to read it while cooking supper and walking to the station,... it's that good!

Buy this book at Amazon UK, Loot or Kalahari