As it turns out, Cassandra Barrett is a renowned anthropologist who is married to Alex Rivers, Americas Hollywood hotty. Cassie returns to her mansion with Alex, trying to get reacquainted with her glamorous life style. As her memory slowly returns, she begins to recall instances of physical abuse. The "picture perfect" marriage between Alex and Cassie is far from the fairy tale romance that the public imagines.
When Cassie discovers that she is pregnant, she flees her home in an attempt to protect herself and her baby from Alex's rage. She runs to Will, who agrees to take her to live with his grandparents on the Sioux reservation. On the reservation, Cassie is exposed to a culture and a lifestyle that is completely new to her. While the isolation of the reservation might have been stifling to some, it was liberating to Cassie.
Our group had mixed feelings on this book and liked other Jodi Picoult books better. Picture Perfect was one of her earlier novels. We had intense discussion on spouse abuse, the main topic of the book. The actor husband, Alex River’s dark side was hidden to the outside world by his good looks and fame. Many of us felt that his wife Cassie was a strong, independent person who should have made better decisions. We were disappointed in Cassie’s decision to return to her abusive husband after childbirth, but glad she left him for good at the end. Also we talked about Native American culture, book characters, and the character’s professions. Discussed how the scenes developed and compared the book characters to famous people in today’s media. Plenty of good discussion on this book.
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