Choice  By  cover art

Choice

By: Jodi Picoult
Narrated by: Therese Plummer

Publisher's summary

In this thought-provoking short, #1 New York Times best-selling and award-winning author Jodi Picoult explores a dystopian crisis through the pinhole lens of an ex-couple experiencing an unwanted pregnancy.

Please note: This content is intended for adults only. It features themes of pregnancy loss that may be upsetting to some listeners. Discretion is advised.

Margot and James are broken up—for good this time. James made sure of it when he dropped the bomb on Margot: that he doesn’t want kids, ever.  

Then, on the biggest morning of his life, James—an ambitious lawyer at a high-powered firm—wakes up pregnant. He realizes with dread that he is part of a recent epidemic of men suddenly and inexplicably becoming pregnant. His condition obvious to the higher-ups, James is denied the promotion he was expecting, sending him reeling.  

Meanwhile, Margot, a social worker, must handle the influx of desperate, pregnant teenage boys suddenly seeking her help. When she receives a call from James with the same problem, the challenge of navigating post-Roe America hits even closer to home.

©2022 Jodi Picoult (P)2022 Audible Originals, LLC.

About the Creator

Jodi Picoult is the author of 27 novels, with 40 million copies sold worldwide. Her last thirteen books have debuted at #1 on The New York Times bestseller list. Five novels have been made into movies and four more— A Spark of Light, The Book of Two Ways, Small Great Things, and Wish You Were Here—are currently in developement. BETWEEN THE LINES (co-written with daughter Samantha van Leer) has been adapted as an off-Broadway musical. She is the recipient of multiple awards, including the New England Bookseller Award for Fiction, the Alex Award from the YA Library Services Association, and the NH Literary Award for Outstanding Literary Merit. She is also the co-librettist for the musical Breathe, which premiered in 2021, and of the musical adaptation of The Book Thief, which will premiere in the UK in 2022. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband.
Photographed by Tim Llewellyn

About the Performer

Thérèse Plummer is an actor and award-winning audiobook narrator working in New York City. She has recorded over 350 audiobooks for various publishers. She was nominated for the 2019 Audie Awards for her work on the multicast Sadie by Courtney Summers for Macmillan Audio, multicast Any Man by Amber Tamblyn for Harper Audio, and her solo narration for The Rogue Planets Shaken by Lee W. Brainard for Podium Publishing. The American Library Association (ALA) awarded her work on Sourdough by Robin Sloan as part of the 2018 Listen List: Outstanding Audiobook Narration for Adult Listeners.
Plummer has been nominated for five Audie Awards in 2018 in the categories: Fiction: She Liked Her Life by Abbie Fabiaschi and co-narrated with Susan Bennett and Dan Bittner, Romance: Any Day Now by Robyn Carr, and Faith-Based Fiction: Sandpiper Cove by Irene Hannon, as well as the multicast narrations for Original Work: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and Middle Grade: See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng (winner). She is the recipient of the 2016 SOVAS Award for Irene Hannon’s Hope Harbor. She was nominated for two Audie Awards in 2014 for her work on Robyn Carr’s The Wanderer and Carson McCuller’s The Ballad of the Sad Café, and received multiple Earphones Awards for her work. Most notably on Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult, Faith by Jennifer Haigh, and We Are Water by Wally Lamb. She was named AudioFile’s Best Voices of the Year for 2015 for her work on Robyn Carr’s A New Hope. Thérèse is the voice of Maya Hansen in the Marvel Graphic Motion Comic Ironman Extremis, Dr. Fennel in Pokemon, and for various Yu-Gi-Oh characters. She performed television guest star roles on The Good Wife, Law & Order: SVU, and Virgin River for Netflix. Regional theater: Sister James in Doubt.
Photographed by Jody Christopherson.

Dear Listener,

"Ever since hearing about the imminent overturn of Roe v. Wade, I have struggled to find a way to do more than rage against the system. I did what I always do when I’m upset—I wrote. But that wasn’t enough, and Audible understood my urgency to make an actual difference. To that end, I have donated Audible’s payment to me for this story entirely to the National Network of Abortion Funds, which remove logistical and financial barriers to abortion in a multitude of states where access to abortion is restricted or banned. Please listen, and tell your friends to listen, and if you are so inclined, donate to a fund of your own choosing that will continue to help women make choices about their own bodies." – Jodi Picoult, writer of Choice

What listeners say about Choice

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Wow! Well done Jodi

One of my favorite writers has done a beautiful job of reflecting the current situation by putting the shoe on the other foot.
Hoping everyone in America (and beyond) gets to read this.

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I Wish it would happen....

Every time I finish listening to an audio book I think "I'm going to give this book a great review." Then I have yet another squirrel moment and BAM it gone till the next book.
This short story made me laugh and yell at the same time. No one would ever dare to tell a man what they can or can not do with their bodies, but they feel they can to women. Maybe they're more scarred of our power then we realize. We give birth, take care of our children, home, careers and even them but they still feel the need to control our bodies and choice. Let's see how they'd feel after having a baby.... LOL 😊

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Fantastic!!! Thought Provoking

Even if you don't believe in Abortion this story brings home the point of the right to choose . The fact that men decide something they will never experience!

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Brilliant!!!

This should be mandatory listening for all men especially those on the Supreme Court. This is brilliant. I hope the message changes the hearts and minds of those who have the power to protect women's rights.

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If only...

One of my favorite genres, realistic fiction, by one of my favorite authors, Jodi Picoult...but this story is turned on its head with just one, very specific, bit of fantasy. And I love it. No...I mean, I RELISH it! Such a simple twist in the realism, yet it totally works. And I love how every separate character interacts with this new "miracle of conception," recognizing their own unique, yet heartbreakingly real situation. Yet it's the opposite sex who has to deal with it. Finally!

I think that writing a story like this really might be the only way to get a certain portion of the population to actually, fully conceptualize what it means to be suddenly pregnant with a child that you categorically know you cannot raise, for whatever reason. This story does such an eloquent job at shoving that reality in the faces of the reader/listener. But still, it's only a piece of fiction, so I'm certain that the most jaded of conservatives won't really pay that much attention. If only it could really happen, even if it were just a temporary state, so these people who believe, not in pro-life, but in pro-BIRTH could really, viscerally feel the consequences their actions. If only the final scene of this story could actually materialize, especially for Justice Alito, so he could feel the weight of the injustice that will come to pass if Roe vs. Wade is overturned. If only...

Bravo, Jodi Picoult...AGAIN!

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  • 06-21-22

Funny-Not funny

Inspired writing, and an in your face , how do you like it now kind of irony that- Oh if only…if ONLY it could happen like that. Not to increase suffering, but the new perspective…….it would Have to be polarizing? influential? eye opening?
Oh if only…..

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If only this could really occur

A good story for what is currently happening to women. The only thing that I disagree with is the age. Most of those who are creating chaos and interfering are older white males. They should be impacted with zero options.

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Really!??

I really enjoyed this! It made me chuckle and had me on edge the whole time. Would recommend to everyone! Wonder what happens next!

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Roles switched

It’s amazing how men think they have all the control until the roles are reversed. Sad, but oh so true.

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If Only

If only this could happen. Can this be sent to every elected individual? Great job, Jodi!

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