Harvesting the Heart in Jodi Picoult Books Reading Group.

Oct 03, 2010 Lainy rated it liked it

Time taken to read - 1.5 days

Publisher - Hodder

Blurb from Goodreads

Written with astonishing clarity and evocative detail, convincing in its depiction of emotional pain, love, and vulnerability, Harvesting the Heart recalls the writing of Alice Hoffman and Sue Miller. Paige has only a few vivid memories of her mother, who left when she was five. Now, having left her father behind in Chicago for dreams of art school and marriage to an ambitious young doctor, she finds herself with a child of her Time taken to read - 1.5 days

Publisher - Hodder

Blurb from Goodreads

Written with astonishing clarity and evocative detail, convincing in its depiction of emotional pain, love, and vulnerability, Harvesting the Heart recalls the writing of Alice Hoffman and Sue Miller. Paige has only a few vivid memories of her mother, who left when she was five. Now, having left her father behind in Chicago for dreams of art school and marriage to an ambitious young doctor, she finds herself with a child of her own. But her mother's absence, and shameful memories of her past, make her doubt both her maternal ability and her sense of self worth. Out of Paige's struggle to find wholeness, Jodi Picoult crafts an absorbing novel peopled by richly drawn characters and explores issues and emotions readers can relate to.

My Review

I love Jodi Picoult novels, they always make you think about how you would feel and what would you do. This book finds us opening with Paige, outside her home watching her husband and little boy through the window. The husband is visibly angry and moves from her line of sight. The book goes back to when Paige and Nicholas first meet and how their relationship begins until we are back to present day. Paige's mother abandoned her as a child and Paige has prior for running too. This all links into what happened to make her husband so angry and why she is outside.

I really enjoy Picoult's writing and I first read this in 2010 and gave it 5 stars. I actually didn't remember any of it, at all, which makes me think I confused it with another book. There were some parts of the book I quite liked. The chapters are split between Paige and Nicholas and usually told from the same time period. Their relationship starts very quickly and they go from zero to committed very quickly.

I had issue with both of their characters and how they behave, Paige you can understand because of her abandonment as a child however she is very selfish. Nicholas has two sides, he is a very good professional but he also comes across very selfish too. The story itself kept me interested and I wanted to know the big mystery with her mother, the explanation was a bit of a let down, for me personally. The ending I didn't like either, it was just too abrupt and I like to know everything, not be left with questions.

That said, this book is loved by lots of people, if your a Picoult fan it is worth reading as her writing is still good. If you have never read Picoult I wouldn't start with this one, I liked it but it is by no means her strongest. I'm a half and half with this one, 3/5 for me this time, I do love Picoult so will be reading more by her. ...more

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