Introduction
Hello, and welcome to my Chapter Study. Today’s novel is by the lovely romantic author Jodi Picoult – Picture Perfect. Chapter Study is a something I thought about as a way to improve my skills in story-telling and to learn some techniques from other authors that hopefully help me on journey to becoming a better writer. I’ll try and focus only on the first chapter, and see it with open eyes, as if I’m reading it for the first time. And even if I know the story, I’ll try to approach it with the knowledge of only what I read in that chapter.
Let’s start at the beginning. Picture Perfect, Chapter 1.
Summary of the Chapter
The chapter is in third person view changing between the timeline of a woman with no memory, and William Flying Horse (Will).
The chapter starts with the groundskeeper. He thinks he has forgotten to bury a body in the church grave yard. But upon a closer look a gull cries and the body’s eyes open. He runs into the streets, frightened.
The body, a woman, awakes with a head wound and no memory of who she is. Confused, she tries to work out what to do next. She wanders out into the street and feeling lost, she retreats back to her spot at the grave yard, falling asleep.
Upon waking later, still without memory, she tries to remember who she is. She knows she had hidden herself in the church, but she couldn’t work out why.
In Will’s timeline, he is introduced as a police officer, with heavy burden of his ancestral heritage, he is trying to find out who he is, as a person. The city makes him feel claustrophobic after leaving the reservation. In no time, he is lost in LA. Driving around LA, trying to find something familiar he gets lost in Beverley Hills. He is stopped by police, and before he could ask his future co-workers for help, he is slammed against the car. After an altercation, they let him go and Will feels more along than ever before. Still lost, Will continues to drive around LA, when a white owl causes him to break suddenly and stop. Believing in the omen of birds Will questions it thinks “ignoring a message from a bird might mean missing some warning or promise from powers greater than oneself.” But determined, Will dismisses the owl and gets out of the car looking to sky. He surrenders, just a women outside the church comes towards him. As the first signs of romance spark, the woman with no memory faints.
Setting her to rest in the passenger seat of his car, the woman with no memory mistakes Will for someone she knows, but Will is quick to point out that he is just passing. Will goes into police questioning mode while he figures out what to do.
The woman with no memory wants to turn herself in to the police, and at first, Will agrees, but is reminded quickly by the swollen eye about his earlier alternation with his co-workers. He takes control of the situation and asks the woman to trust him. She goes with her gut instinct and says yes.
Characters
The Character that are mentioned in the chapter are (in order of mentioned) the groundskeeper (who leaves the chapter within the first few sentences), the woman with no memory, and William Flying horse (who calls himself Will) and a pair of LA Police. Other Characters that are mentioned by are not in the chapter are Will’s grandmother, and Alex Rivers.
Character Introductions
The woman with no memory - She is describes as Caucasian, with a bad head wound, wearing a bomber jacket, and is shorter than Will. She felt like she need to hide herself away, from something. And also has some familiarity with the Actor Alex Rivers and LA, knowing that lights in the sky might mean an awards night is on.
William Flying horse (Will) - Police Officer, of Sioux Indian heritage, wearing jeans. Will gets his right eye hurt and nearly swells shut. He drives a truck and is new to the LA area. He is lost in LA and lost with who he is as a person.
Will’s Grandmother - When Will was small, they were collecting herbs in the woods. Will gets lost and huddles in the cold under a tree. Hours later, his grandmother “Wordlessly” pulls him by the hand in the direction of home. Upon arriving she says a few disapproving words to Will.
LA Police Officers - Two rude LA police officers who beat Will for no reason other than who he is. They believed he should have been in the area where he was and didn’t believe he was a police officer.
Alex Rivers - described in the chapter as “American’s Sweetheart”. Some reason, the woman with no memory remembers his acting career.
Starting paragraph
The first thing the groundskeeper saw when he went to tend to the small cemetery behind St. Sebastian’s was the body that someone had forgotten to bury.
Oh! Who’s the body? What are they doing there?
We learn that the body is the woman with no memory, but what a dramatic sentence. We also get where the scene is taken place, and what is happening in the scene – a body in cemetery.
Ending Paragraph
She smiled. “Jane Doe.” She placed her fingertips against his palm, and with her touch this strange city fell into place. Will thought about the song of the owl, and this gift that had literally dropped into his arms, and as he glanced at her he knew that in some way she was now his.
A little bit of romance? The magic of your first loves encounter? Is Will going to take care of the woman with no memory?
Tension
I like the introduction to the woman with no memory, and the tension building with that thread. Who is she? Why does she know Alex Rivers film career? You could say she might be a fan, or is there more to that? Why was she wanting to hide herself at the church?
And I like how Will’s thread was built up over the chapter. He is lost, in himself and in LA. Who is he really? Why did he come to LA?
I missed the romance tension the first time I read this. (I’m not a big romance person), but after reading it through again, I found the hints.
“A touch more quiet than a breathe”. Ohhh…
“Stunned, Will stared at her.”
“She smiled so easy, Will found himself smiling back”.
There’s a lot more, but my point is, I learnt that romance can be subtle – it can be sprinkled just lightly over but still make a big impact.
Lessons learnt
I don’t mention it in the Chapter Summary, but the gull cry used as a connector between the two timelines is great. First, at the start of the chapter when the Groundskeeper sees the body (the woman with no memory), then again when Will stops at the water to breathe in the air, after feeling claustrophobic. Its a nice hint to tie those two time lines together.
The character in the first few lines of the chapter is not the main character, more of an extra, and only in the chapter for a couple of sentences.
Like my previous Chapter Study, I have seen characters not really described in the first chapter with all their physical features, only the important ones. I find that really interesting. You still see the character in your mind, even though you have minimal information about them.
Conclusion
Jodi Picoult, is a wonderful author. I have read a few of her novels, and while romance is not for me, I respect and admire her writing skill. She creates deep and meaningful scenes, and leave you thinking about them, for ages after.
Reference
Picoult, Jodi. (2004). Picture Perfect (10). Allen & Unwin.
Thank you for reading!
Zoe Bella-Aster 💜
