#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A deeply moving, gripping, and intelligent page-turner about a daughter’s search for her mother, Leaving Time is Jodi Picoult at the height of her powers.Includes the novella Larger Than LifeThroughout her blockbuster career, Jodi Picoult has seamlessly blended nuanced characters, riveting plots, and rich prose, brilliantly creating stories that “not only provoke … prose, brilliantly creating stories that “not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us” (The Boston Globe). Now, in Leaving Time, she has delivered a book 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 she was abandoned, 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: Serenity Jones, a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons, only to later doubt her gifts, and Virgil Stanhope, the jaded private detective who’d 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.
Praise for Leaving Time
“Piercing and uplifting . . . a smart, accessible yarn with a suspenseful puzzle at its core.”—The Boston Globe
“Poignant . . . an entertaining tale about parental love, friendship, loss.”—The Washington Post
“A riveting drama.”—Us Weekly
“[A] moving tale.”—People
“A fast-paced, surprise-ending mystery.”—USA Today
“In Jenna, [Jodi] Picoult has created an unforgettable character who will easily endear herself to each and every reader. . . . Leaving Time may be her finest work yet.”—Bookreporter
“[A] captivating and emotional story.”—BookPage
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I loved this book!
Jodi Picoult is not normally at the bottom of my to read list, but I wasn’t very excited about this book. Maybe it is because I have read so many and her M Night Shamalanadingdong endings were getting tiring. And of course – this one did not disappoint with that kind of ending, so get ready for there being a twist and you not liking what it is.
But I did find this book enjoyable up until that point. Jenna’s mother was a researcher at an elephant santuary (which exists in real life, just not where it takes place in the book) and I found the information about elephants fascinating. The little girl’s search for her mother and determination to find her was heart warming.
If you are a sap for Picoult, then put this book on your list. But just know she ends her books like she always does – by surprising you. Sometimes I like the direction she takes, and sometimes I don’t.
Picoult does it again! She never lets the reader down with her typical style of intrigue & well developed characters that leave us guessing right to the end. One of her best works.
Had an ending that I wasn’t expecting.
I love a book with a great storyline, (and this one has it), even better when I actually learn something during the read! The information about elephants, interwoven throughout the story, was great.
Loved the fascinating information on elephants. I also enjoyed the psychic element, the characters, and the plot twists.
Great read. The ending was definitely not what I was expecting…I recommend it!
This is Picoult at her finest. The storyline is about the bond between a mother and child in humans and in elephants. The plot has many facets to it and the characters -elephant and human-are so entrancing, each in their own way. The ending is one that absolutely floored me as I never saw it coming! A must read and a box of Kleenex by your side is a must too!
Few books have been capable of surprising me to the point of awe and tears. I can’t say whether it’s how the rescued elephants and elephant behavior is woven into the story, or the fact that I didn’t know what happened until near the end.
This is truly one of the best books I’ve ever read/listened to. But truth be told, everything I’ve read by Ms. Picoult has had a similar effect on me.
Well researched content. And a twist I didn’t see coming!
Did not see the ending coming.
My favorite of her books!!!!
I enjoy Jodi Picoult books because they’re interesting and they always throw you a curve ball. This one did not disappoint!
This book had such an unexpected and surprising ending! Highly recommend this book!
I not only enjoyed this well written book, but I was intrigued and learned a lot.
I love elephants and when I read the back and saw that it was about an elephant sanctuary I just had to read. Oh but this book was about sooo much more than that. It was a page turner and the ending was a huge surprise. I even got emotional and started to cry toward the end of the book.
Loved the protagonist(s)!
Great characters in this unpredictable story, a great page-turner and I have highly recommended this book to several of my friends.
Typical Jodi Picault… surprising ending. Lots of good info along with the story of suspense about Elephants and their lives and grieving processes. A bit slow in parts, could have been a little more condensed, but in the end a good read for Picault fans.
Fellow readers, I read this book, maybe, three years ago and I have not stopped thinking about it. That is the impressive nature of this book and her subject matter. I wish I hadn’t read it; that way I could read it again for the first time.