Reading a Jodi Picoult novel – the feeling of being swept away by the story and the enlightenment – ​​is an awe-inspiring experience. My sister’s keeper, With Picoult’s worldwide hit in 2004, millions of people learned how terrible a child’s illness can affect a family. Years later, fans kept her bestseller Nineteen minutes and gained insight into the heartache that violence causes. While novels are often seen as a mere means of escapism, Picoult proves that they can be unexpected teachers. “In many ways, novels are a kinder, gentler way of getting people to think about issues they’d rather not think about,” she says The Sunday newspaper.

Picoult has sold over 40 million copies of her novels and knows how to make the most difficult subjects accessible, which is needed in today’s world where staying informed and consistent is a challenge. We spoke to the author about her new novel and why she believes fiction – and any book – can stir our souls even in the most difficult of times.

A CONVERSATION WITH JODI PICOULT

In your novels you deal with difficult topics, from violence in schools to racism to the loss of family. Why is fiction an important means for you to deal with these topics?

We live in really difficult times. We’re at a point where, for me at least, it’s hard to watch the news. A lot of people find it difficult to read nonfiction and listen to news about controversial, polarizing topics. There’s something magical about fiction, on the other hand. It almost has this little trapdoor where you start a novel thinking you’re being taken away and entertained, and by the end you’ve learned something about the world and yourself – all without knowing you’ve learned anything. In many ways, fiction is a kinder, gentler way of getting people to think about issues they’d rather not think about.

Your next novel is about how women are overlooked and stigmatized. You tell this from the perspective of two female characters, one living in the present day and the other 400 years ago. Why did you want to address women’s voices and rights?

That is the crux of the book: four hundred years ago, women were not valued for their intelligence, and 400 years later, today, we are Despite it we don’t get credit for our minds. Often we’re reduced to body parts, as if the only important thing about us is the ability to have a child. That’s a reductionist, dangerous and regressive world. One of the beauties of this book is that when we think of the Tudor period, we don’t think of a very enlightened world, (but) there are still so many parallels between that world and the world today. It’s really important to remember that women make up more than half the world. We need to know that historically women have been erased from history and often not given credit by the men who held the pen. Today, men still hold the pen. We need to stop saying, “It’s OK,” or “It’s not that bad,” or “It’s only four more years.”

Over a year ago you were rehearsing for The Book Thiefa story you were adapting into a musical when you read a headline in the news that some of your books were being banned. Tell us about that experience.

It was really crazy! I was in a rehearsal room and I watched actors playing Nazis burn a prop book and all I could think was: What exactly happens? During this time, my books were banned in Martin County, Florida. At the request of a parent, 92 books were removed from the program, and 20 of those 92 books were mine. The reason for this was because my books were apparently pornographic in nature, and that included books that did not even feature a kiss. The parent admitted that he had not read the books. It was ridiculous and shocking and almost cognitive dissonance to see this fictionally play out on the stage before me and to know that this was happening in our country with book bans. It is once again like turning back the pages of history.

How can we all participate in the fight for books and freedom of reading?

There are far more people in this country who want to protect the freedom of reading than there are people who want to ban books. It has been reported that 11 people are responsible for over 60 percent of the book bans in this country (according to an analysis by The Washington Post). So it’s about being louder than these very loud individuals. So what does that mean? That means, if you can, running for school board and voting against banning books. It means starting a banned books club. It means using your social media to support books.

All of this is incredibly dangerous because there is a very small group of individuals trying to decide how children think and how they form opinions on difficult issues. There is nothing wrong with parents deciding what their children should read. That is the parents’ job. But there is something really wrong with those same parents making the decision for other people’s children. People who have banned books claim they are protecting children from concepts they think are dangerous. But in reality they are taking away resources from children who use fiction and books to develop tools to help them understand a very complex world. Studies show that children who feel excluded feel less alone when they see themselves represented in literature. If you take those books away from children, and if you remove parts of history from books because you don’t like how they reflect America’s past, you are not getting rid of that history; you are just taking away resources from people that they need in a very difficult world.

How can you stand out from the noise in this tough world?

I’m very fortunate to have a job where I can create scenarios and characters whose lives I have complete control over. That’s really helpful in some ways when I feel like I don’t have control. I also think back to the lessons I learned during COVID when we were in lockdown, which is to remember what’s most important. We all lost a lot during that time. But I still had fun playing Foursquare with my kids on my driveway. No matter what you’re going through and what’s difficult, there are these little nuggets of gold.

I also love to have moments of silence. I recently broke my arm, but when I don’t have a broken arm, I go swimming every day. And I do that because I get away from it all the time. I listen to audio books while I swim and that’s how I get away. That’s another wonderful thing about books: they take you into the world.

What great novel do you think we should all read this summer?

A book that I constantly recommend is a surprise book called Molly Malloy and the Angel of Death. It’s a short book about death, a character who has a job. It’s crazy and so strange, but it’s about what it means to be human – the cheekiness, the audacity and the beauty of it all.

Jodi Picoult is the #1 NYT bestselling author of 29 novels, including groundbreaking titles such as My Sister’s Keeper, Mad Honey, Wish You Were Here, A Spark of Light, and Small Great Things. Her new novel, By Any Other Name, hits stores August 20. For more information, visit jodipicoult.com.