The Paperbackers

A still-born child leads to a discovery of love,and a philosopher-detective in 19th century Istanbul.

Jodi Picoult,author of 17 novels,is Britains biggest selling female author. She often tops the New York Times Bestseller List and its no surprise. Her novels rollick like an amusement park ride,with plunging crises and hurtling surprises. At the end of it all,you like the ride,it made you spin,forced you to hang on,but you dont remember it. In most likelihood,youll never return to it.

While My Sisters Keeper which became a movie with Cameron Diaz told the emotional story of a familys struggle with a childs leukemia,Picoults latest Sing You Home Hachette,Rs 595,deals with a couple trying to conceive and the different paths this leads them to. To provide the required soundtrack to this soap-opera-like tale,readers are encouraged to download a soundtrack,written especially for the book. Sung by Ellen Wilber,the songs allow the reader to hear the voice of 41-year-old Zoe,music therapist and lead protagonist of the book.

The novel opens with Zoe and her husband-of-nine-years Maxs attempts at conceiving a child. With clinical precision,it details the trials of IVF,where husband and wife become like machines that must be measured,prodded,and injected to create a final product. Zoe succeeds in conceiving but in the 28th week,the child emerges still-born.

With the demise of the child,Max,who has the looks of a surfer and the hands of a landscaper,asks for a divorce. To cope with the loss,Max turns to Eternal Glory Church and Zoe to her friend Vanessa. Their relationship quickly evolves from one of companionship to love. To Picoults credit,she depicts the same-sex relationship with authenticity. She stands back and allows the characters to reveal themselves in their certainties and doubts. She doesnt judge them and asks you to do the same.

To keep the soap-opera pace,Picoult throws in a bout with cancer,frozen embryos,a court case,an accident,accusation of sexual harassment and an attraction to a brothers wife. Well,she did promise to entertain.

If you are looking for another entertaining ride,try Jason Goodwins An Evil Eye: A Novel Faber and Faber; Rs 499. In the fourth installment of his mystery series featuring the investigator Yashim,Jason Goodwin takes us again to the 19th century Ottoman Empire,skillfully weaving together the strands of political and personal intrigue that make up that world.

The year is 1839 and these are difficult times in Istanbul. The empire is on the wane and the great powers,Russia,Austria,and even Egypt,are chipping away at the borders,awaiting their chance to take over. A new sultan,the 16-year-old Abdulnecid,has just taken over after the death of the feared Sultan Mahmut II,and his arrival has necessitated a change in guard of the immense harem that the old sultan had maintained. It is to the mysteries of this harem that Yashim will often return through the course of the novel. And it is a world he is well placed to explore,for,as a eunuch,he is allowed to go where other men are not.

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For the immediate though,there are more pressing matters at hand. A Russian soldier is found dead in the well of a Christian monastery and investigations reveal that he may have worked for a secret underground organisation. The weight of the matter is not lost on Yashim,who is keenly aware of political machinations around him,but the plot is complicated by the involvement of Fehzi Ahmet Pasha,Yashims old mentor,whom he has now come to distrust.

Recreating history can often be a tricky business but Goodwins world comes alive through the character of this immensely compelling detective who seems,always,to retain a touch of the philosopher.