This is another heartstring tugging book from Jodi Picoult. And I expect no less from her. I love her books because they make you think. I like to describe her as an author who writes about social issues. That's not totally accurate but it gives you a gist of what her stories are about. Without a doubt, after reading one of her books there will always be discussion and controversy. Change of Heart is no different.
June is the sole survivor of a fatal car accident that takes her husband and leaves her to care for their baby girl, Elizabeth, on her own. She eventually falls in love with and marries the police officer, Kurt, that rescues her. While heavily pregnant with her second daughter, June hires an itinerant, Shay Bourne, to help with some badly needed repairs. June returns one day from an ob-gyn appointment to find her husband, Kurt, and her daughter, Elizabeth, killed. Presumably by Shay. Shay is sent to death row, the first in over half a century. The jury deliberations were tough. There was one holdout by a young man, Michael. Michael's guilt in his part in this case leads him to a life in priesthood.
June, again, becomes a single parent to a baby girl, Claire. Under the circumstances, one can understand why June is very protective of her daughter. June is much more so with Claire due to a serious heart defect that requires a heart transplant for survival.
Years later, as Shay is facing execution, he sees a television segment showing a girl in need of a heart transplant and wants to donate his heart. June is ecstatic that someone wants to donate their heart. Moral dilemma, it belongs to the man that murdered her daughter and husband. June wants very much to deny the heart, hoping against all hope that there will be another donor. When she meets Shay face to face during a well supervised meeting, he tells her that Elizabeth was "better off dead." (My jaw dropped during this heart wrenching scene.)
Michael comes to the prison to befriend Shay and be his confessor. Michael and the other prisoners witness things that cannot be understood. Wine flows through the pipes of Shay's quadrant instead of water. A bird miraculously revives after Shay holds it. Shay pinpoints the cause of a guard's baby's severe illness to the peanut filling in her stuffed animal in her crib. Shay is able to share his one piece of gum with everyone in his ward. His HIV positive neighbor is seemingly cured the next day. A guard is fatally attacked by a prisoner and pronounced dead. While being removed by EMT, the guard revives, as Shay is seen huddled in a corner in prayer.
June refuses the heart but circumstances and time is not on Claire's side. June changes her mind when Claire ends up in the hospital. She accepts Shay's heart out of spite.
A trial is underway to determine whether Shay can donate his heart. A chamber has already been built to give him the lethal injection. Shay's lawyer helps him fight for the right to hang instead so that he can donate his heart.
Father Michael searches for ways to soothe Shay's soul, so that he may die in peace. Father Michael seeks out Shay's sister, Grace. He tries to convince her to forgive Shay for setting the fire that disfigures her face.
Shay admits to Father Michael that on the night of the murders, he discovered Kurt molesting his stepdaughter Elizabeth and in the struggle for the gun, Elizabeth was accidentally killed. Shay in turn killed Kurt for what he did. Although he finally admitted the truth, Shay refused to allow his lawyer to use the information to delay the trial. Shay wants to donate his heart. And time is running out.
When Claire finds out about the upcoming transplant, she convinces her mother to let her die.
Grace comes to visit June and shares the story of abuse from her foster father. She also tells June how she set the fire that killed her stepfather and how Shay took the blame. Grace plants the seed that Kurt might have been abusing Elizabeth. June decides that she will accept Shay's heart for Claire. The transplant is a success.
A few weeks later, while at home, Claire sees that her dog, Dudley has died. As she holds him in her arms, his heart starts beating again.
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