Salem Falls

by Jodi Picoult

As you can see, I've kind of been on a Jodi Picoult kick lately. I blame Becky. It's a good thing. This book was good, but not as good as Vanishing Acts. I think partly that is because I read Vanishing Acts first, and this book really seems to be very similar. It addresses the same issues such as prison life, alcoholism, people not really being who they seem to be, etc... Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book.

"A handsome stranger comes to the sleepy New England town of Salem Falls in hopes of burying his past: once a teacher at a girls' prep school, Jack St. Bride was destroyed when a student's crush sparked a powder keg of accusation. Now, washing dishes for Addie Peabody at the Do-Or-Diner, he slips quietly into his new routine, and Addie finds this unassuming man fitting easily inside her heart. But amid the rustic calm of Salem Falls, a quartet of teenage girls harbor dark secrets -- and they maliciously target Jack with a shattering allegation. Now, at the center of a modern-day witch hunt, Jack is forced once again to proclaim his innocence: to a town searching for answers, to a justice system where truth becomes a slippery concept written in shades of gray, and to the woman who has come to love him."