Leaving Time is about an adolescent girl, Jenna, who has been searching her whole life for her mother who disappeared when Jenna was a young child. Her mother (and father) worked at an elephant sanctuary.
The story is told from multiple perspectives. Through Jenna's mother, Alice, we learn about her elephant research in Africa and how she ended up married and working at the sanctuary. The stories about the elephants are my favorite parts of the book. We learn a lot about elephant behavior, and it is fascinating.
Jenna enlists the help of a psychic, Serenity, and the washed-out detective who originally investigated the tragic events leading up to Alice's disappearance. We get their points-of-view also.
The reader is taken step by step down this path to discovering what happened, and then BAM! -- the huge twist. I had no idea this was going to happen because I hadn't really heard anything about the book before I read it. I was stunned and disappointed at the "cop -out" I fell Picoult used.
However, I liked that the twist wasn't the end of the book. We still get more story, more explanation, and some closure for all of the characters, so I ended up being okay with it. But I still would rather it have turned out to be something else.
The audiobook is narrated by four different people, all of whom did a great job, and the multiple readers helped make the perspectives distinct.
Looking back, I really enjoyed Leaving Time and would recommend it even with the startling twist.
Published by Ballentine, 2014 (Random House Audio)
Audiobook obtained from the library
416 pages
Rating: 4/5
I haven't read a Picoult in such a long time, maybe I'll check one out for the summer. I do love elephants...
ReplyDeleteI've been a Picoult fan for many years. I actually loved LEAVING TIME because it felt very unique while also being vintage Picoult. The twist and unconventional ending didn't disappoint me at all -- I loved them!
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