“Grief is a curious thing, when it happens unexpectedly. It is a Band-Aidbeing ripped away, taking the top layer off a family. And the underbellyof a household is never pretty, ours no exception. There were times Istayed in my room for days on end with headphones on, if only so that Iwould not have to listen to my mother cry. There were the weeks that myfather worked round-the-clock shifts, so that he wouldn't have to comehome to a house that felt too big for us.”

American writer

Jodi Picoult is an American writer. By 2026, she has published 30 novels and several short stories, and she has also written several issues of Wonder Woman. Her books have sold widely, with about 40 million copies in print worldwide and translations into 34 languages. She is also the recipient of the 2003 New England Bookseller Award for fiction. Her work appears in both long-form fiction and shorter pieces, and it has reached a broad international readership.