Title: Leaving Time
Author: Jodi Picoult
Published: October 2014, Ballantine Books
Format: Hardcover, 398 pages
Source: Library
#1 bestselling
author Jodi Picoult returns with her compulsive new novel – about the
lengths we go to for those who have left us behind; about the staying
power of love; and about how three broken souls might have just the
right pieces to mend each other.
Jenna Metcalf was with her mother the night she disappeared in tragic and mysterious circumstances, but she remembers nothing.Over
ten years have passed, and still Jenna reads and rereads her mother’s
journals, hoping to find some clue hidden there, in the meticulous
recording of her scientific research with elephants.Desperate for answers, Jenna uses all her savings to recruit the aid of a private detective – and a psychic.
Jenna
knows her mother loved her. She knows she would not leave her. And she
will not rest until she finds out what happened that night. In her most
gripping mystery since House Rules, Jodi Picoult brings us a powerful
story of a young girl’s determination to uncover the truth, however
shocking and life-changing it might be.
My thoughts: I have been a fan of Jodi Picoult’s for a while now and have really come to enjoy her books and her writing style. This book, though, is unlike anything she has written before – and I think it’s definitely her best book yet!
This book just grabs you right from that first page and keeps you hooked all the way until the end – and what an ending! Wow…this is where I was left speechless – I definitely did not see that coming! Told from the perspectives of four characters, the story weaves back and forth in time, filling in the necessary blanks and allowing you to slowly put the pieces of the puzzle together. What did happen that fateful night?
The emotions that run through this book are palpable and when you tie in all the research that we are presented about elephants and their grief process, it makes a big impact. Clearly, Jodi did an enormous amount of research while writing this and it shows. Not only did I feel invested in the characters’ lives, but also that of the elephants.
This book is chock full of surprises. There’s a mystery begging to be solved; journal entries that, in my opinion, couldn’t be read fast enough, filled with so many interesting facts about elephants; memorable characters and a love so strong it supersedes all else. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out what would happen, and just when I thought I had figured it all out, I was blown away by what I read next! What a great, great story and one that I will definitely be rereading. I might even try the audio version next time around, as I hear the production is amazing!
Sounds really good. I haven't read all of her books but what I always wait for is the twist at the end. I'll have to read the print book of this as the audio doesn't seem to be available to me on Audible as yet – may not have world rights.
This one does sound very gripping, Kristin. Excellent review! I've read other books by Jodi Picoult (and hosted a challenge). She's certainly a talented and prolific writer!
I've been wanting to read this one. She does have a way of surprising the reader. The elephant grief process sounds very interesting. Hope to get to it this spring.
I stopped reading Picoult as the last read was very sad. This sounds intriguing.
Totally agree, I've been a Jodi Picoult fan for years but her last few have been hit and miss for me until The Storyteller and now Leaving Time. Loved all the elephant info. Wonderful review!