Leaving Time
A Novel
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4.3 • 215 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
From the beloved, international bestselling author Jodi Picoult, Leaving Time is a gripping story of a daughter searching for her missing mother—and one of her most powerful and affecting novels yet.
Alice Metcalf was a devoted mother, loving wife and accomplished scientist who studied grief among elephants. Yet it's been a decade since she disappeared under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind her small daughter, husband, and the animals to which she devoted her life. All signs point to abandonment . . . or worse. Still Jenna—now 13 years old and truly orphaned by a father maddened by grief—steadfastly refuses to believe in her mother's desertion. So she decides to approach the two people who might still be able to help her find Alice: a disgraced psychic named Serenity Jones, and Virgil Stanhope, the cynical detective who first investigated her mother's disappearance and the strange, possibly linked death of 1 of her mother's co-workers. Together these three lonely souls will discover truths destined to forever change their lives. Deeply moving and suspenseful, Leaving Time is a radiant exploration of the enduring love between mothers and daughters.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Elephants loom large in the terrifically entertaining new novel by bestselling American author Jodi Picoult. Twelve-year-old Jenna Metcalf can’t stop searching for her mother, even though naturalist Alice Metcalf disappeared from the elephant sanctuary she helped create 10 years ago. In Leaving Time’s fast-paced first act, Jenna enlists the help of a disgraced psychic and a dishevelled private detective to help track down clues to Alice’s dramatic vanishing act. Shifting between her characters’ first-person perspectives, Picoult demonstrates her talent for psychological insight and relatable humour. You’ll be moved by the facts about a beloved animal species and mesmerised by the story’s twists and turns.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Picoult's (The Storyteller) novel explores grief, memory, and motherhood through the unlikely lens of elephant behavior. Jenna Metcalf was three years old when her mother, Alice, disappeared from the elephant sanctuary where she worked as a researcher. Ten years later, Jenna is ready to launch a search. After poring over her mother's research journals, consulting the Internet, and visiting her father in the mental institution where he's been since shortly after the disappearance, she enlists outside assistance from Serenity Jones, a once-famous psychic whose gift appears to have deserted her, and Virgil Stanhope, the gruff, alcoholic ex-police detective who was once assigned to Alice's case. With their help, Jenna finds new evidence at the now-closed sanctuary and begins to piece together the events of the night her mother disappeared, leading her to a few uncomfortable truths about the past, but bringing much-needed closure to her and her dad. Longtime fans of Picoult will recognize some of her stock characters the precocious, sassy teenager; the distant, philosophical mother; the curmudgeonly surrogate father figure as well the her trademark twist ending, which may well be her strangest to date. When she diverges from her usual formula her storytelling skills are most evident. The pachyderms are as complex as the humans, making the journey memorable and poignant.
Customer Reviews
Different from her other books
Jodi Picoult can be really predictable in a very boring way in most of her novels. They all follow a similar theme, except this one. This one really stood out to me. It was one of those books that you become so involved in you can’t think about anything else. This book tore me to pieces by the end and I still often think about it. It was incredibly well-done, and you can tell she spent a lot of time researching each detail. Not only did this book entertain me, it educated me! I highly recommend this novel - it is one of my all-time favourite books I’ve ever read.
Leaving Time
A stunning piece of work; an informative, captivating, surprising, emotional page-turner.
Don't waster your time reading Leaving Time
One of the worst books I have read. There are just a handful of books that I haven’t finished and this would have been one of them if I hadn’t felt obligated out of courtesy as it was chosen for our book club. The book club member proposed it at the suggestion of someone else – no doubt she will never trust that person’s recommendations again.
Characters and dialogue are straight out of the worst movie of the week you could imagine. The plot is beyond inane. The author’s post-script about the plight of elephants seems to imply that the real purpose behind this book was to devise a plot into which Picoult could weave information about elephants and elephant research. In that case why employ such a bizarre story if you have serious intentions? Why write a story that is geared to an 8th grade reading level when you want to impart scholarly information? There were a handful of pages about 2/3rds of the way into the book that were slightly compelling but the rest of this book was disjointed, badly written and so boring.
Personally I am offended at the lack of respect for the reader to publish such drivel. This is the first and last book I will read by Picoult. I have no hesitation in saying, do not waste your time reading this book even if you are in 8th grade.