AN INDEPENDENT REVIEWER GIVES IT FIVE STARS:
I received a copy of this book from the author for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review, and all conclusions are my own responsibility.
I'm rather at a loss for words to accurately review this book: for I'm not entirely certain I've discovered all of the ways it makes an impact. It is a roller coaster ride from one peak in the revelations to the next, climaxing with the impact of that last big climb - slowly up until it crests and drops the bottom out from under you.
Each of the characters encountered are involved, directly or indirectly with Jude and what seemed to be a sucking vortex of secrets, deceptions and resentments. Add in the rather inflexible edicts from the Pope and the Bishop, contrasted with bioethical issues surrounding the sustenance of life without considering the quality of that life and that is just a taste of what this book brings to the reader.
Of course, the author has managed to wrap all of the issues into a well-written, tightly characterized and deeply moving story. One that keeps you thinking long after you have put it down and wanting to go back and re-read sections as your opinion on everything starts to change and wander. The main character is named for St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes: although each character has their own `lost cause' they are fighting against, some more successfully but no less traumatic than others.
If you want a book that doesn't challenge, ends with a "happy ever after", that you will put down and not feel it calling for you to finish it - this is not the book for you. Skillful writing combined with a plot guaranteed to make you think, remember and even question: you must have this book.