Jodi Picoult does it again with The Storyteller

I have said it before and I will say it again.  I really like Jodi Picoult's books.  They always cause an emotional reaction.  Some really get to me (Nineteen Minutes) and others are affecting, but not in a personal way.  This one was a mix.  While it is about the Holocaust, specifically focused on Poland, it is also about family, love, self-knowledge, and forgiveness.  Picoult is wildly successful and talented at writing about timely and difficult topics.  I have read criticisms of her work which run her down for the very things that make her books popular and effective.  No matter my level of connectedness with the issue in the book, I always spend time while reading and later really mulling over the intricacies of the moral dilemmas she presents.  Books that make us think and consider an issue from more than one side are all to the good I think.  This story was well researched, intricate on many levels, and heartbreaking, but a good cry is good for the soul.