Author: Jodi Picoult
Publication: October 14th 2014 by Ballantine Books
Genre: Adult ~ Mystery
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Rating: 5/5
Throughout her blockbuster career, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult has seamlessly blended nuanced characters, riveting plots, and rich prose, brilliantly creating stories that “not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us” (The Boston Globe). Now, in her highly anticipated new book, she has delivered her most affecting novel yet—and one unlike anything she’s written before.
For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe that she would be abandoned as a young child, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts.
Desperate to find the truth, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies in her quest. The first is Serenity Jones, a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons—only to later doubt her gifts. The second is Virgil Stanhope, a jaded private detective who originally investigated Alice’s case along with the strange, possibly linked death of one of her colleagues. As the three work together to uncover what happened to Alice, they realize that in asking hard questions, they’ll have to face even harder answers.
As Jenna’s memories dovetail with the events in her mother’s journals, the story races to a mesmerizing finish. A deeply moving, gripping, and intelligent page-turner, Leaving Time is Jodi Picoult at the height of her powers.
This book was definitely one of the most unique and best books I have ever read. And the best thing was that I could read for hours without it getting boring. I was actually annoyed when I had to stop reading for you know, sleep and food. Darn basic needs! But oh, it was such a touching and marvelous book!
There were four points of view in this book — teenager Jenna, her mother Alice, psychic Serenity and ex-cop Virgil. I can honestly say that I liked them all equally. I had already met Serenity in the short story 'Where There's Smoke' and I must say that I'm very pleased to know what happened to her after the events of the short story. The other characters were also great.
The story revolves the most about Jenna, obviously, who's trying to find out what happened to her mother a decade ago when she disappeared without a trace. Is she hiding from the law? Is she dead? Did she run away from her mentally ill husband? We don't know!
Virgil was the cop who was on the case all those years ago. I love, though, that at first both Serenity and Virgil are very wary of helping Jenna but they come around eventually.
The point of view from Alice was the most unique because it's featured in the past and at first there's mostly stories about elephant grief that she's researching. The stories about the elephants were kind of heartbreaking but I loved reading them. I didn't know a quarter of all the things I know now about elephants because of this book. Pretty amazing! But anyway, Alice's point of view slowly starts getting closer to the events of the day where she disappeared and eventually we find out what's really going on and wow, it was all very intense and dramatic but I loved it!
The end where everything gets revealed is a huge twist, one that I hadn't seen coming at all. I was pretty shocked actually and had to re-read some sentences a few times for it to truly sink in. My mind was blown. I also really enjoyed Jodi Picoult's writing style. Like I said before it's my first book by her but she really impressed me with this story.
Leaving Time is a mystery, drama and thriller all rolled into one book that was so moving. The story absolutely tugged on my heartstrings and I enjoyed reading it so much. It's one of those books that I know I will be thinking about for quite some time.
Quotes:
I'm the princess in an ivory tower, except every brick is made of history, and I built this prison myself.
When someone leaves you once, you expect it to happen again. Eventually you stop getting close enough to people to let them become important to you, because then you don't notice when they drop of your world.
Jenna lost her mother. I lost my credibility. Virgil lost his faith. We've all got missing pieces. But for a little while, I believed that, together, we might be whole.
About the Author:
Jodi Picoult is the author of twenty-two novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers The Storyteller, Lone Wolf, Between the Lines, Sing You Home, House Rules, Handle with Care, Change of Heart, Nineteen Minutes, and My Sister’s Keeper. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children.
Amazing review, Steph and you've really got me wondering about that ending! :D
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