Title: The Storyteller
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Genre: Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
Year of Publication: 2013
Date of Publication: February 26, 2013
Pages: 460
ISBN-10: 1439102767
ISBN-13: 978-1439102763
Summary of The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
The Storyteller follows Sage Singer. Sage is 25-year old and works as a baker. Two years ago, Sage was involved in a car accident. The accident left her with a scar that rippled from her left eyebrow down her cheek. The scar itself is very prominent and makes Sage so uncomfortable that she prefers to work the night shift at a local bakery to avoid interacting with many people. But even worse than the scar, the accident took the life of her mother.
While attending a grief counseling group, she meets Josef. Josef is a retired teacher and tells Sage he is 90 years old. They form an unlikely friendship after discovering they have a lot in common. One day, Josef makes a confession to Sage that shocks her to her core. He tells her that he used to be a Nazi SS officer and that he needs her help.
“I would like you to help me die.”— Josef
The favor, which really is unthinkable, is to help him die and forgive him for the crimes he committed against Jewish people. Josef explained that he has tried to end things on his own and that he had even survived cancer twice. And this is where the story truly begins. To bring things into more context, Sage is Jewish, although she was never religious. Her parents on the other hand were somewhat religious and her grandmother, Minka, is a Holocaust survivor.
Although Sage had some doubts as to whether Josef was telling her the truth, she decides to report this to an FBI agent named Leo Stein. Leo works in a division of the FBI that investigates and prosecutes these types of crimes. He encourages her to find out as much as she can from Josef. Up until that point, Sage had not really discussed the events of the Holocaust or talked with her grandmother about her experiences. In fact, she only found out her grandmother was a survivor when she was around 12 years old but nothing more had ever been discussed with her. After Josef’s confession, Sage decided to talk with her grandmother.
The novel takes us on a journey where we learn about Minka’s history and teenage years in Poland, and Josef’s childhood during the Nazi time, and what led him to becoming a Nazi SS officer.
Main Themes and Characters
- Sage Singer: She is the main character in the novel and is grieving her mother’s death.
- Josef Weber: He is an elderly man who became friends with Sage. Josef (not his real name) used to be a teacher that was loved by all. He confesses a shocking secret to Sage. Joseph’s tells Sage that his real name is Reiner Hartmann.
- Minka Singer: She is Sage’s grandmother. Minka is a Holocaust survivor whose story becomes central to the novel. Sage calls her Nana. Minka has the tattoo on her wrist.
- Leo Stein: He is a Department of Justice investigator who pursues Nazi war criminals. He helps Sage after she reports Josef’s confession.
- Mary D’Angelis: She is Sage’s best friend and owns the bakery “Our Daily Bread,” where Sage works. She used to be a reverend sister but one day she left the order and opened the bakery. Because she could not bake, she hired Sage.
- Adam: He is Sage’s married boyfriend. He works as a funeral director. Sage met Adam when her mother died and had her funeral service where he works.
- Franz Hartmann: He is Reiner Hartmann’s brother.
The novel is about forgiveness, redemption, morality, guilt, survival and the scars we live behind when we make certain choices in life. It examines the weight of secrets and how justice can sometimes be very complex.
The book includes some teachable moments reminding readers that when you forgive a person, it really is not about that person but it’s a way of helping yourself. You essentially take the weight off your own shoulder that you have been carrying.
“Forgiving isn’t something you do for someone else. It’s something you do for yourself. It’s saying, you don’t get to turn me into a victim. You are not important enough to me to be the object of my hate.”— Mary D’Angelis
The book does however make an important distinction on who gets to forgive. You can forgive wrongs done to you but when wrongs are done to others, you do not have to forgive.
“You don’t make peace only with God, you make it with people. Sin isn’t global, it is personal. If you do wrong to someone, the only way to fix that, is to go to that same person and do right by him.”—Leo Stein
Writing Style
Jodi Picoult’s writing is very compassionate and she tells the story in an unbiased way. She uses multiple perspectives and timelines to really give readers a well rounded story. We get Josef’s point of view as well as that of Minka’s. The story is also told in the current time through Sage and Leo’s point of view.
Keep in mind that parts of the book are set in a concentration camp. As a reader, you have to decide on how this may impact you because they feel so authentic and some will make you cry. With that said, this book is not one about sadness and tragedy only, it’s more focused on the strength of humans even in the face of the most unthinkable situations.
They can take away my home… and my money, and my wife and my child. They can take away my livelihood, and my food and… my grandson but they can’t take away my dreams.”— Sage’s father
We learn that Minka loved writing short stories before her family was displaced. In fact, Jodi Picoult writes the novel in a way that one of Minka’s story, which she rewrote after the war becomes a story within this story. At first, we found that confusing but once we understood the structure of the book, it became very clear and connected parts of this story.
“How does it end.”—Franz Hartmann
Memorable Quotes
- “If you hide long enough, a ghost among men, you might disappear forever without anyone noticing. It’s human nature to ensure that someone has seen the mark you left behind.”— Sage reflecting on the signature she leaves on each of the items she bakes.
- “Inside each of us is a monster; inside each of us is a saint. The real question is which one we nurture the most, which one will smit the other.”— Josef’s reflections.
- “Any military man will tell you that the way to pull a divided group together, is to give them a common enemy. This is what Hitler did when he came into power in 1933 as chancellor.”— Josef’s reflecting on why so many people went along with Hitler’s plan
- “It’s the same reason I am the only person from my original grief group still here. While most people come for therapy, I came for punishment.”— Sage reflecting on her reasons for continuing to attend the grief counseling sessions many years after her first session
- “Power isn’t about doing something terrible to someone who’s weaker than you Reiner. It’s having the strength to do something terrible, and choosing not to.”— Franz Hartmann
- “Sometimes, all you need to live one more day, is a good reason to stick around.”—Minka reflecting on why she eventually wrote her stories
- “Stories outlive their writers all the time.”—Minka reflecting
- “So you see, this is why I never told my story. If you lived through it, you already know there are no words that will ever come close to describing it. And if you didn’t, you will never understand.”— Minka
- “What is the point of trying to put down on paper emotions that are too complex, too huge, too overwhelming to be confined by an alphabet. Love isn’t the only word that fails. Hate does, too.”— Minka
- “Sometimes, all it takes to be human again is someone who can see you that way.”— Minka
- “It does not matter who forgives you if you are the one that cannot forget.”— Sage reflecting on Josef’s guilt
“I would like to think that maybe the next person who is about to do something horrific. The soldier who is given an order to commit a crime against humanity, will remember that press release about the Nazi that was caught even at age 95. Maybe in that moment he would realize that if he carries out his order the United States government or some other one is going to hunt him down for the rest of his life too, no matter how far he runs. And maybe he would think, I’m going to have to be looking over my shoulder forever like Reiner Hartmann, so instead of doing what he’s been told to do, he would say no.”—Leo Stein
Impact of The Storyteller
The novel really makes one think about forgiveness, accountability, and the lasting impact of the Holocaust on subsequent generations.
