A Spark of Light

Published in 2019, Jodi Picoult’s novel A Spark of Light tells the story of a gunman’s attack on an abortion clinic from multiple points of view, examining the lives of different characters and the events that lead them to the clinic on that day. Picoult is a New York Times best-selling author and has written 28 novels, several of which have been adapted for film and television. Her books are known for tackling social issues in a deeply researched and empathetic way, exploring the emotional lives of her characters, and offering readers a chance to understand viewpoints that may be different from their own. Other works by Picoult include House Rules, The Book of Two Ways, and Wish You Were Here. Picoult has stated that her intention in writing A Spark of Light was to examine the abortion debate in the US through several different viewpoints. The book’s themes include The Personal and Societal Impacts of Abortion, The Role of Empathy in Understanding Contentious Issues, and The Complexities of the Father-Daughter Relationship.

This guide refers to the e-book version of the 2019 Random House edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss abortion, sexual assault, gun violence, death, and post-traumatic stress disorder. They also refer to suicide and addiction.

Plot Summary

A Spark of Light takes place at the Center, the last abortion clinic in Mississippi. It follows the lives of several characters who are present when a gunman named George Goddard opens fire in the clinic and takes hostages. The book begins at 5:00 pm, the last hour of the hostage situation. Wren McElroy, the 15-year-old daughter of the hostage negotiator, is trapped inside beside the dead body of another hostage, Olive LeMay. The remaining hostages have been released. Wren’s father, Hugh, is the hostage negotiator. In an attempt to save her, Hugh offers to trade places with his daughter. George seemingly agrees, but when Wren walks toward the police perimeter, he raises his gun and points it at her.

After this chapter, the novel proceeds in reverse chronological order. Each chapter takes place an hour earlier than the one before it and describes the lives of the characters and how they wound up at the Center. The chapters also reveal previously hidden connections among each of the characters.

Hugh is a single father, and the book takes place on his 40th birthday. He realizes after arriving at the scene that his daughter is inside. He lies to the chief of police to stay on the job, even though he knows that he should relinquish control to another police officer since the stakes are so personal. When the truth is finally revealed, he manages to convince them to allow him one last attempt to save Wren.

George, the shooter, is also a single father. He served in the military and was dishonorably discharged after he saved a girl from a sexual assault, but she refused to testify on his behalf. He continues to experience post-traumatic stress disorder; he attacked his wife during an episode, and she left him to raise their infant daughter, Lil, alone. Desperate, George found new hope and help at a small church, where he worked for many years. He is attacking the clinic because Lil, now a teenager, had an illegal medication abortion at home, and George believes that the Center is responsible.

Wren is at the Center because she wants to have sex with her boyfriend and needs a birth control prescription. She loves her father and regrets not telling him about the appointment. She spends a portion of the attack hiding in the closet with Olive Lemay.

Olive is a retired professor who recently received a terminal cancer diagnosis. She is at the clinic to have the test results confirmed and is delaying telling the news to her beloved wife, Peg. At one point, the hostages attempt to overpower George but fail, and he tries to shoot Wren. Olive intervenes, saving Wren’s life and losing her own.

Bex is Hugh’s biological mother, though he believes that she is his older sister. She raised him after her mother was unable to do so because of her addiction. She agrees to bring Wren to the clinic for birth control and accompanies her inside. When George begins shooting, she is hit in the chest. She survives because Izzy, a nurse, stops the bleeding. Bex is the first hostage released after Izzy pleads with George to let her go so that she will not bleed to death.

Izzy is at the Center to terminate her pregnancy, though this information does not emerge until the book’s final chapter. She is dating a man from a wealthy family, but even though she loves him, she is reluctant to accept his proposal of marriage or tell him about the pregnancy. She lives a few hours away from the Center in Oxford and misses her appointment due to traffic. She is in the bathroom when the shooting begins and stays to help the others, risking her life. When she is freed, she tells her boyfriend that she loves him and that they are having a baby. Her experience at the Center allows her to realize that she wants to build a family with him.

Dr. Louie Ward is the Center’s OB-GYN. He is friendly with Vonita, the owner, and Graciela, the social worker, as well as the nurse practitioner, Harriet. All of these women are killed in the initial attack, and Louie is shot in the leg. Izzy saves him from bleeding out and stops George from killing him. Louie is a religious man but also believes in science. He survives the attack and comforts the Center’s receptionist, Rachel, who fled and feels survivor’s guilt.

Joy Perry is a patient at the Center who terminates her pregnancy before the shooting begins. She is a waitress who grew up in foster care and is almost finished with college. She becomes pregnant after a brief fling with a married man who decided to reconcile with his wife. Joy cannot afford the baby and makes an appointment at the Center. After the attack, Janine Deguerre, an anti-abortion activist, accompanies Joy home. Though they are on different sides of the ideological spectrum, they form a fragile friendship.

Janine, the activist, infiltrates the Center disguised as a patient, hoping to catch them coercing someone into an abortion and record it. She believes that abortion is morally wrong and is close to her younger brother, Ben, who has Down syndrome. When she is caught in the shooting, she believes that it is punishment for the abortion she had as a teenager after a sexual assault. She tries to convince George to let her go because they are on the same side, but he hits her in the head. Joy is the only one who is kind to her and who helps her after she is hurt by George.

Beth is a 17-year-old in Oxford who self-administers a medication abortion using pills she found online. She attempted to obtain a legal abortion but was unable to get the parental consent waiver in time because the judge on the case (revealed to be Joy’s affair partner) went on an unexpected vacation. When she hemorrhages, her father takes her to the hospital. Beth is George’s daughter, but this is not revealed until the book’s final chapter because he calls her Lil, short for her child nickname, “Lil Bit.”

At the hospital, the nurse, Jayla, realizes that Beth was pregnant and worries that there might be an infant at risk, so she calls her husband, Nathan, who is a police officer. Beth is arrested and arraigned for homicide. Her public defender, Mandy DuVille, is Nathan’s cousin. In another moment of connection between characters, the novel reveals that Jayla is only on duty in the emergency room because she is subbing for Izzy, who has taken time off for her own abortion.

In the last chapter, the book returns to the end of the day: 6:00 pm. Hugh sees George take aim at Wren and kills him, saving his daughter. The two of them go home together, hand in hand.