As the book traverses Minka’s and Josef’s journeys, Sage is faced with the moral question – should you forgive someone who has committed grave, unspeakable acts because he has sought atonement and been a “good” person for the remainder of his life? Sage’s grandmother Minka is an Auschwitz survivor and what Josef wants is redemption – to be forgiven by a Jew.Sage seeks the help of Leo Stein from the Justice department, who is actively involved in tracking down war criminals. He is revealed to be a former SS officer responsible for gruesome deaths of several Jews during WWII. Josef has a rather macabre favor to ask of Sage – he wants her to help him die. He has been a beloved German teacher, coached a local league team and is respected in the tight-knit community that is Westerbrook, New Hampshire. At one of the meetings she befriends Josef Weber, a nonagenarian who is well known in town for being a model citizen. Sage Singer works at a bakery and is a part of a grief group that she attends to deal with her mother’s death. What happens when a former SS officer meets the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor? Redemption is sought, and whether it will be given forms the plot of this book. That the book is a work of fiction doesn’t take away anything from the harrowing tales of a horrific time. Jodi Picoult’s book, The Storyteller, is a good example of that. And a story is usually only as good as its storyteller. A story is more than just a bunch of characters and scenes woven together.

The storyteller picoult