8 Ways Jodi Picoult’s Book Tour Pays Tribute to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour (Plus Win Free Swag!)
The bestselling author is honoring the singer's magic on her 30-book victory lap
Key Takeaways
- Fans show up for Swift's Eras Tour and Picoult's Chapters Tour to celebrate creative careers.
- Picoult has published 30 books—and just got her first tattoo at age 60!
- 'Hollow Bones' teaches about honoring those lost and protecting those with depression.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour gave fans a joyful walk through her entire musical catalog—and now bestselling author Jodi Picoult is giving book lovers the same kind of celebration. To mark the release of her 30th novel, Hollow Bones, Picoult has launched a tour so full of Swiftie Easter eggs, friendship bracelets and surprise giveaways, fans are calling it her own ‘Eras Tour’ moment.
At a Chapters Tour stop in Michigan for the National Writers Series last week, Picoult told the crowd, “When we were coming up with the idea for this tour, we really wanted to not just celebrate Hollow Bones. We wanted to celebrate all the books I’ve written and the fact that 30 books have come forward—that doesn’t happen unless readers like you keep coming back. You guys are everything!” Here are eight things fans can enjoy on this book tour.
Her tour wardrobe is giving full Swiftie energy
Eagle-eyed fans watching Picoult on stage noticed she was wearing beaded friendship bracelets on this book tour, much like the ones made popular by Swift. But the biggest fashion homage was Picoult’s white gown. “Do we have any Swifties out there in the audience?” she asked the sold-out crowd at City Opera House in Traverse City, Michigan. “So if we have Swifties, then you should recognize this dress. This is a replica of Taylor’s ‘Tortured Poets’ dress from her Eras Tour.” But instead of song lyrics, it contains passages from Picoult’s books along with the slogan: “30 books, one amazing community of readers.” Making fun of the difficult life of a writer, she added, “And if anyone’s going to be a tortured poet, it’s going to be me!”
Longtime fans will spot this ‘Hollow Bones’ Easter egg
Swift is known for hiding clues and so-called Easter eggs in her music videos that only fans will find and appreciate. Picoult’s latest novel, Hollow Bones, does the same. It follows Molly Fitzgerald, whose life and worldview were forever changed when her mother disappeared on 9/11, 25 years ago. But longtime readers will spot a delightful callback: Molly’s husband, Jesse Fitzgerald, is a character from Picoult’s beloved book My Sister’s Keeper. For devoted fans, it’s a reunion worth celebrating.
Picoult’s heartfelt message about lost loved ones
Swift is famous for honoring loved ones in her songs, for example writing lyrics and including voice notes from her grandmother, Marjorie, in a song by the same name. What does Picoult say about writing stories that are heavy with the themes of grief and loss? “We’re all going to lose people we love, but we also find infinite ways to keep them with us.”
She offered the example of how the names of the victims of the 9/11 Memorial in New York City are not grouped alphabetically. They are grouped with people they knew, people they liked, people they worked with or ate lunch with, or “meaningful adjacencies.” What does that mean to her? “Just because you’re not here anymore doesn’t mean I’m not holding that space for you, and that that fills me with a lot of hope.”
A surprise deep cut at every tour stop
At the Eras Tour, Taylor Swift would surprise the crowd each night by playing a song from her backlist that wasn’t part of the usual playlist. So Picoult is doing a similar thing on her Chapters Tour. Each stop, she’ll be asked about one of her 30 books. On this stop in Michigan, the surprise backlist title was Lone Wolf. The 2012 novel follows a wolf researcher who becomes incapacitated by an accident, and how his children tussle over how to care for him. It’s a fitting echo of Swift’s vault song ‘Prophecy,’ where she sings, “A greater woman stays cool, but I howl like a wolf at the moon.”
Picoult uses powerful symbolism, just like Swift
Fans of Taylor Swift are always looking for hidden meaning and symbols—like her lucky number 13—in anything Swift touches. And turns out, Picoult is symbolic too, especially around a meaningful milestone birthday. “I did not want to turn 60. Like I’ve never had a problem with 40 or 50 or 55, but man, was I dragging my feet!” admits Picoult to the crowd. “And I decided I was going to take ownership of it, and I was going to get my first tattoo.” The only catch: She had to keep it a secret from her mother. What tiny symbol did she get tattooed on her wrist? “It is a pilcrow, which is the name for a paragraph symbol—that little backward P, which to me means ‘same story, fresh start.’” She added a funny PS to the story: “I wake up one morning to a text from my mom that says, ‘Your mother had to learn about your tattoo from your newsletter!’”
Picoult gave out Swift-like free swag
The crowd really went wild when the moderator of the night, April Baer of the Stateside talk show on Michigan Public Radio, announced, “So here’s the thing. Taylor Swift has swag, and you know who else has swag? Jodi Picoult! That’s right!” During the event, Picoult gave out a free book, tote bag and a beautiful Jane Win medallion necklace to lucky members of the audience. Like Swift, Picoult clearly enjoys spoiling her fans. So check out Picoult when she visits your area—if you’re in the room you have a chance to win a prize!
Get ready for Picoult to bear her soul
Swift is synonymous with writing breakup songs. And Picoult doesn’t shy away from heavy topics either: whether writing about pediatric cancer, school shootings or terrorism. Wondering how she could delve into such intense material, the interviewer playfully asked, “Jodi Picoult, who hurt you?”
But Picoult had a happy answer. “Honestly, nobody. No, seriously, I get asked that all the time. I have the best life. I had a great childhood. I have this absolutely perfect, bucolic life in New Hampshire now. I love my husband. He’s amazing. I have three great kids who are all contributing to society. I have three grandchildren and one on the way.” She explained, “I think the only reason I can write about what I write about is because I don’t live it.”
Why Picoult wants women to stop waiting to be saved
Despite her song ‘Anti-Hero,’ Swift is seen as a hero to many women for navigating massive success in a male-dominated industry. Picoult has her own message about strength that she shared with the Michigan crowd: “We have to be the heroes that we’re waiting for.” She went on to note that only about 1 percent of health research funding is geared toward women. We’re living in a moment when a research grant can be dismissed for simply including the word ‘woman’—which is part of why she’s using Hollow Bones to help raise awareness about women’s mental health and postpartum psychosis.
The one thing you won’t see on this book tour
Picoult gushed, “I really wanted to create this event that was a celebration for readers. And to that end, we are going to have Easter eggs. We’re gonna have giveaways. We’ve got swag. We’ve got the whole thing.” But she teased that she wasn’t going to sing from stage. “Absolutely not. I would like you to remain my fans!”
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