I borrowed this one from a friend.
About the book:Jodi Picoult earned rave notices for her debut novel, Songs of the Humpback Whale. Now this gifted young writer turns her considerable literary talents to the story of a young woman overcome by the demands of having a family.
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 loved this book. It was such a touching story. I was so captivated by the characters that I just let myself get lost in the story. It only took me a few hours to read it.
The character development was great. I loved Paige and Nicholas. Even the secondary characters were great. I had great images of them all, and I could even hear the accents in their voices as I read. I think Nicholas comes off as being a bit superficial and at times a real jerk but I almost understood where he was coming from and felt that he was justified in his actions (sometimes).
The story was very good. Picoult did a great job with the narration changes, which I think can sometimes make a story seem choppy. The changes didn't affect the flow of the story at all.
The story spans quite a bit of time, and I found myself forgetting that so many years had passed but that didn't really take away from the story.
I really liked this one. It wasn't an excellent book, but it was pretty good. It was a quick read and it was easy to attach to the characters. If you like chick lit this is a good one to pick up. This was the first of Picoult's books that I've actually read, but I've added her to my list of favorite authors.
To learn more about Harvesting the Heart please visit
Penguin.com
