Leaving Time By Jodi Picoult

[amazon_link id=”1444778145″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’Leaving Time’is the latest book by bestselling author Jodi Picoult.

Jenna Metcalf was with her mother the night she disappeared in tragic and mysterious circumstances, but she remembers nothing. Over ten years have passed, and still Jenna reads and rereads her mother’s journals, hoping to find some clue hidden there, in the meticulous recording of her scientific research with elephants. Desperate for answers, Jenna uses all her savings to recruit the aid of a private detective – and a psychic. Jenna knows her mother loved her. She knows she would not leave her. And she will not rest until she finds out what happened that night. In her most gripping mystery since House Rules, Jodi Picoult brings us a powerful story of a young girl’s determination to uncover the truth, however shocking and life-changing it might be.

Jodi is one of my favourite authors, each time she releases a new book I always find myself thinking as I reach the final page, “wow that book was definitely her best” and when I came to the final page of ‘Leaving Time’, I was left in a bawling and speechless mess convinced that this was Jodi at her very best.

The story starts with Jenna, a 14 year old girl who is wanting to find her mother, 10 years after she disappeared. Convinced that her mother is still out there and has to have a real reason for her sudden disappearance, she employs the help of a failed psychic called Serenity and retired detective Virgil. The story is written in the first person for each of the characters, each given their thoughts into Alice’s disappearance and how their own lives have turned out. There is also the addition of chapters by Alice, on the run up to the fateful night that she disappeared.

It’s hard to say much about this story without getting carried away and revealing too much, as there are many twists, turns and adventures that the trio encounter along the way that does make for very unexpected reading.

The characters are tremendous particularly Jenna. Living with her grandmother, she is an awkward, smart and reclusive character who longs to find her mother but finds herself battling with surprising emotions, as she deals with the horrible thought of hoping that Alice might have died instead of intentionally leaving Jenna behind. Desperate for this mystery to be put to rest, she approaches Serenity, a smart mouthed psychic, who was once one of America’s most famous psychic’s until her career took a dramatic nosedive and she finds herself doing readings for 10 dollars until petulant and determined Jenna turns up demanding her help. Virgil originally worked on the case 10 years ago and Jenna hopes that he will remember something. Battling an alcohol addiction, Virgil feels he has let Jenna down as the case has never solved and even though he is sceptical of Serenity’s unorthodox way of work, he is determined to work with her in hope to finally the close the case.

In Jodi’s typical style of writing that we have all grown to love, she has created a story with relatable characters that all make for gripping and entertaining reading that all interlink cleverly together to create a truly remarkable story. As Alice works closely with elephants, there are loads of interesting facts and stories about the animals contained within the story showing that elephants are quite close to humans in relation to emotions.

Jodi has delivered another fablously profound and poigant book packed with wit and intrigue. Captivating from the beginning, this book is cleverly written and well researched, that made it impossible to put down and with a particularly unexpected ending that will leave the reader breathless.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”1444778145″ target=”_blank” ]Leaving Time from Amazon[/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.