Tag Archive for: Jodi Picoult

Leaving Time, Jodi Picoult

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult is set on an animal sanctuary where Dr. Alice Metcalf, a dedicated animal researcher, studies elephant behavior alongside her husband, Thomas. On a fateful day that would change their lives forever, a co-worker is brutally killed at the sanctuary. Shortly thereafter, Alice mysteriously disappears and Thomas is committed to a mental institution. Their three year old daughter, Jenna, is left behind.

Ten years later, precocious Jenna Metcalf never recovered from the loss of her mother. All she has left are memories and journals, but she yearns for answers and is determined to find them. Desperate for help, she secretly recruits Virgil Stanhope, the ex-cop who was assigned to the case a decade earlier. She also contacts Serenity Jones, a once famous but disgraced psychic, to help her put the pieces of her family together.

Like Jenna, Virgil Stanhope never recovered from the case either. Uncomfortable with how it was handled, he has spent the last decade on what-ifs and easing his guilt with alcohol. When Jenna appears seeking his help in locating her mother, he takes the opportunity to investigate the case again in hopes of making things right, all while battling his own self-destructive demons.

Serenity Jones, a well known, eccentric psychic, is reluctant to involve herself in Jenna’s quest for answers. However, Jenna is persistent and Serenity eventually agrees to help. As the story unfolds, we learn that this once highly acclaimed psychic has a devastating history of her own, and a reason for leaving the spotlight and isolating herself in a small New Hampshire town.

The three are an unlikely team with conflicting ideas on how to reach their common goal of finding out what happened to Alice Metcalf. As they dig deeper and get closer finding answers, they start to realize things are not as they seem. The case is far more twisting and complex than any of them ever could have imagined. Before long, they come to understand that the deeper they dig and the more they find, the less they want to know.

Superstar author Jodi Picoult has, once again, seamlessly woven characters and events into multiple themes that culminate to an explosive surprise ending. Picoult presents so many life issues for us to reflect upon: loss, maternal bond, animal cruelty, suicide, murder, marriage, infidelity, substance abuse, mental illness, death and the afterlife. The plot is delivered through the points of view of central characters and set in an animal sanctuary. Throughout the novel, Picoult intertwines information about elephant behavior, emotions and cognition. Not only does this information help to place the reader in the setting, feeling for these giant creatures and all that they have endured, but it also provides important symbolism. The symbolic connection between Jenna’s longing for maternal love and the bonding patterns of mother and baby elephants is clear. We see the void in Jenna’s life and her hunger for motherly affection, then we see how deeply elephant mothers and babies grieve when one of them is lost. These connections are smoothly tied in, add depth to the novel’s themes, and help the reader understand the raw emotions of the characters. Furthermore, the information Picoult provides about elephants, their struggles with exploitation, the cruelty of hunters, and the battles they face in the wild have made me fall in love with these beautiful, sensitive creatures. I will never look at an elephant in the same way again.

Also true to life are the complexities of these characters. As human beings, we all have histories. We all have trauma. We are all injured in some way, and indeed, shaped by our pasts. As each character develops, we see the hefty price they have paid for their mistakes, the impact of their subsequent guilt, the effects of maternal loss on emotional development, and the high cost of betrayal. As each character navigates their own twisting path and attempts to cope in their own, unique way, we are reminded that people are complicated, life is messy, and there are no easy answers.  

As with all of Jodi Picoult’s novels, Leaving Time is extremely well-written, appropriately paced and deeply thought provoking. This novel offers a wide range of characters and is centered around one of the most fascinating animals on the planet. Leaving Time is a gripping read that I highly recommend for teens, adults, and animal lovers. 

***Purchase this amazing novel at Amazon here. Please note that when you click and purchase the book through this affiliate link, I receive a tiny commission at no additional cost to you. My opinions remain my own.

See my review of Picoult’s Handle with Care here.

“No one in the world needs an elephant tusk but an elephant” – Thomas Schmidt

Handle with Care, Jodi Picoult

 

 

Anyone familiar with Jodi Picoult knows that she isn’t afraid to lay real-life controversial issues on the table; issues that make her readers think deeply about the lives, crises and decisions of her characters. Prior to reading Handle with Care, I had never heard of wrongful birth lawsuits. Wrongful birth lawsuits are filed against doctors (usually obstetricians or radiologists) who have allegedly failed to diagnose fetal abnormalities in utero, such as birth defects or genetic impairments. After the birth, parents seek compensation for damages caused by the emotional and financial strain of the child’s care. The argument is that the parents lost their opportunity to end the pregnancy due to the doctor’s failure to diagnose these life-altering, debilitating conditions in time. I’m not going to share where I stand on this issue, but I will say that no matter what your beliefs are, Handle with Care will make you think deeply about ethical questions, family dynamics, and what defines quality of life. There are simply no easy answers.

Sean and Charlotte O’Keefe have a healthy daughter, Amelia. They wanted another child, but struggled to become pregnant. When it finally happened, they were thrilled. Charlotte was cared for by her best friend and obstetrician, Piper, during her pregnancy. Charlotte was given every indication that her pregnancy was going smoothly, until a twenty-seven week ultrasound revealed devastating news. Their unborn daughter had multiple bone fractures in utero, an indication of a serious collagen defect known as osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). The disease causes extreme bone fragility, affects growth and bone formation, and can be life threatening. Many people with OI only grow to be about three feet tall, and have bones that break easily upon even very mild impact. A sneeze, for example, can cause multiple fractures. When little Willow later came into the world, she arrived with several broken bones and endured even more during the birth.

As the years pass, Willow and her family are continually held hostage by her disease. Willow is a very bright child, but she cannot enjoy the activities most children take for granted due to risk of serious injury. She can’t run, go to a playground, participate in sports, climb trees or ride a bike. Every family decision must revolve around Willow’s needs. Every emotional, financial, and time resource her parents have go into her care. Hospital bills are mounting, as are household tensions. The marriage and family dynamics suffer. They are all barely hanging on, and then things get even worse with a horrible accusation of child abuse and a subsequent arrest during a much-needed family vacation.

When Charlotte reaches a breaking point and files a wrongful birth lawsuit against Piper, a decision Sean opposes, their lives implode. Their already troubled marriage crumbles. News of the lawsuit goes public, unleashing a barrage of gossip and judgement against them. The press hounds them. Amelia loses her best friend (Piper’s daughter), and is shunned and harassed at school over the impending suit. It tears the family apart.

As all this was going on, Picoult brilliantly interwove another intriguing family sub plot. Marin, Charlotte’s lawyer in the wrongful birth suit, is dealing with some family issues of her own. Adopted at birth, she is on a quest to locate her birth parents. She loves her adoptive parents dearly, but struggles with questions about her roots, her identity, and she longs for answers. Her journey is an emotional one with many twists and turns. Through it all, she is left to consider her place in the world and what exactly defines and constitutes a family.

Goodness, where do I even begin to review this heavy, gripping and extremely complex read, one that raises so many moral, ethical and family issues? Let me start by saying that as a mother, I could so easily relate to the family themes. Parenthood under ideal circumstances is emotionally and physically exhausting, so my heart went out to Charlotte and Sean. I kept imagining myself in their situation – caring for a child with a horrible illness while desperately trying to pay the bills and hold a crumbling family together. Picoult poignantly and realistically presented every side of real, multi-layered family issues under very crushing circumstances. I was so enfolded in the plot and deeply felt every emotion of the broken characters – anger, fear, love, heartache, desperation. I cannot even begin to express how fortunate this book made me feel, and how easy it is to take our lives for granted.

Each chapter was presented in the voice and point of view of a character. Amelia’s character, in my opinion, was the most gripping. Sean and Charlotte had nothing left to give her as Willow’s care was all-consuming. Through no fault of anybody, Amelia was completely on her own – the forgotten child who got no attention, no support, and had so many unmet needs. She internalized it all, and self-soothed with food, purging, and cutting. It was clear that her cutting and eating disorder were desperate attempts for order. These self-destructive habits were a cry for control in a young life spiraling out of control. Watching her plummet was agonizing and reminded me of Theo’s character in Picoult’s House Rules. The difference was that Theo handled his emotional neglect by acting out, while Amelia turned her pain inward – but both are equally damaging.

Clearly, Picoult did considerable legal and medical research to write this novel, all of which was presented intelligently and embedded seamlessly into the fabric of the story line. Handle with Care forces us to consider the multiple dimensions of some very difficult issues. This novel is extremely well-written, well-paced and flowed smoothly. I highly recommend Handle with Care. It is an excellent and engaging read that will stay with you long after you finish the last page.

(On a side note, I am from New Hampshire and love the fact that so many of Picoult’s novels are set in that beautiful and familiar state!)

To purchase this book at Amazon, click here. This is an affiliate link, which only means that when you click the link and purchase the book, I receive a tiny commission at no additional cost to you. My opinions remain my own.

See my review of another Jodi Picoult novel, Leaving Time, here.

“Things break all the time. Day breaks, waves break, voices break. Promises break. Hearts break.” Jodi Picoult