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House Rules (novel)

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Publisher
  
Atria

Media type
  
Print (hardcover)

ISBN
  
978-0-7432-9643-4

Author
  
Jodi Picoult

Country
  
United States of America

4/5
Goodreads

Publication date
  
March 2, 2010

Pages
  
532 pp

Originally published
  
2 March 2010

Original language
  
English

Genres
  
Fiction, Novel

House Rules (novel) t3gstaticcomimagesqtbnANd9GcRIQoPbBVkwqPIBH

Nominations
  
Goodreads Choice Awards Best Fiction, Goodreads Choice Awards Favorite Book

Similar
  
Jodi Picoult books, Asperger syndrome books, Novels

House Rules is a story by Jodi Picoult about a boy with Asperger's syndrome living in Townsend, Vermont who is accused of murder. The novel shows the struggle between the boy and his family, the law, and his disability.

Contents

Plot

Jacob Hunt is eighteen years old, lives with his mother Emma and brother Theo, and has Asperger's syndrome, then considered a form of high-functioning autism. Jacob lives by a structured schedule and feels comfortable only when all of his daily activities are planned; Emma indulges him by bending her and Theo's lives around his needs. Jacob is obsessed with forensic analysis to the point of compulsion. His need to engage in structured, single-minded activities, as well as his obsession with detail, often frustrates his mother and infuriates his brother. The novel opens with Jacob setting up a crime scene (in which he is the victim) for his mother to solve. Jacob is later accused of murdering his tutor Jess Ogilvy. Eventually it is revealed that Theo snuck into a house Jess was housesitting at and startled her, causing her to accidentally hit her head on the sink and die. When Jacob showed up for tutoring, he staged a crime scene to make it look like Jess's boyfriend Mark Maguire had committed the murder and then Mark had tried to make it look like a kidnapping. Jacob states that he did this to take care of his brother, in accordance with a "house rule" set down by Emma, and that he would do it again.

Characters

  • Jacob Hunt - Eldest son of Emma and Theo's brother. He has Asperger's syndrome and he is accused of murdering Jess Ogilvy, his social skills tutor.
  • Emma Hunt - Single mother of Jacob and Theo Hunt. She works as a columnist for their town's local newspaper. She has devoted herself to her eldest son, Jacob, as a consequence of his disability. She creates "House Rules" which stipulate the following: "Clean up your messes, tell the truth, brush your teeth twice a day, don't be late for school, and take care of your brother; he's the only one you've got."
  • Theo Hunt - 15-year-old brother of Jacob, claims to be independent and rebellious.
  • Rich Matson - The lead detective on Jess's case.
  • Oliver Bond - Jacob Hunt's attorney.
  • Jess Ogilvy - Jacob's social skills tutor and the murder victim.
  • Mark Maguire - Jess's boyfriend and first suspect in her murder
  • Judge Cuttings - Judge presiding over the murder case of Jess Ogilvy
  • Helen Sharp - Prosecutor prosecuting Jacob Hunt for murder.

    • Murders discussed

    The novel contains short discussions of murder(s) committed by Ted Bundy, Richard Crafts, Christopher Hightower, Darryl Littlejohn, Jeffrey MacDonald. Stella Nickell, Dorothea Puente, Dennis Rader, Gary Ridgway, and Bill Sybers.

    References

    House Rules (novel) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA