“We fall back into silence. I look around XO Café and notice that chatter happens mostly at tables where the diners are young and hip. The older couples, the ones sporting wedding bands that wink with their silverware, eat without the pepper of conversation. Is it because they are so comfortable, they already know what the other is thinking? Or is it because after a certain point, there is simply nothing left to say?”

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.