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"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 thirteen 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 death of one 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"--… (more)
User reviews
Jenna is a great character. Maybe a bit old for her years but it worked and I loved how the story was told from the different viewpoints. I couldn't put it down and as the story unfolded I was left wondering how it would all end until the most amazing twist occurred. Writing a twist like that successfully is no mean feat. I also really liked all the information about elephants and their behaviour - fascinating stuff! I loved loved loved this book.
This is about Jenna who is looking for her Mom who has been missing for 10 years. Jenna hasn’t seen her since she was three when one of the caretakers at the elephant sanctuary is trampled and Jenna’s Mom Alice is injured and taken to the hospital. It’s also about Serenity, a psychic that Jenna approaches to help her find Alice. I remember Serenity from another book but can’t remember which one. I love that Jodi pulled her into another story. This is also about Virgil, one of the detectives who investigated what happened that night at the sanctuary and how the case has bothered him for 10 years. The story is told by different viewpoints throughout the book. Alice talks about the backstory and reveals to the reader what was happening leading up to that night. Virgil, Serenity and Jenna mainly reveal what is happening in the investigation. Jenna also has some memories about her first three years with her parents at the sanctuary.
I always recommend Jodi to anyone who wants to be sucked into a story and this one is no different. It will pull you in, shock you and make you sad. Read, read, read it. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. And if you think about it, read the little novella prequel Larger Than Life for this book. It adds more substance to Alice.
This book presents as a fairly straightforward missing-person-type mystery. Jenna is 13. Ten years ago, one
Then, Picoult turns the story on its side, and we have to re-evaluate everything we thought we knew about what happened that tragic night at the elephant sanctuary. Then, she turns it completely upside-down, and you realize that you didn't know anything about anything. Throughout these twists and turns the emotion is being ratcheted up, until you can't possibly put the book down until you get to the very last page. Fortunately, while I wouldn't describe it as a happy ending, it's a satisfying ending, and one that is well worth being put through the emotional wringer.
Leaving Time is such a treasure. Her writing is perfection flowing seamlessly from one page to the next. You are drawn into the story
Jenna Metcalf is a young girl who has spent most of her life seeking answers in the disappearance of her mother, Alice. Alice and Jenna's father, Thomas, ran an elephant sanctuary. On the night of Alice's disappearance, one woman was found trampled, Jenna's father landed in a medical institution, and, as a result, Jenna went to live with her grandmother.
Jenna connects with Virgil Stanhope, one of the original officers assigned to the case, and Serenity Jones, a psychic who seems to have lost her psychic abilities, to finally discover the truth--what happened to her mother?
This unusual trio of detectives lead the reader through a mesmerizing story with an unexpected ending.
I loved the story, loved the writing, applaud the creative ending, and enthusiastically recommend this book.
I received this book as an advance copy from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Although the characters weren’t lovable and had many problems, I certainly was intrigued by the plight of the elephant and the research done of them. Yes, I was also intrigued by Jenna’s search for her mother. I too wondered why a mother would leave her daughter. I believe death would be the answer. But Alice was alive through her journals, as the author tells each characters stories through individual chapters told from their point of view. The surprise ending (and it was certainly a surprise for me) made it all the more exciting for me. I enjoyed learning about elephants and the mystery of Alice’s disappearance.
On a different note, I have read other reader’s reviews and the complaints some had. I am not a regular reader of Jodi Picoult’s books so am an aware of her use of the individual character’s point of views and the surprise endings and could see why one would tire of that if that is all they read. And those who say that the surprise ending was done before. Guess what every story has been done before, it is the way that is portrayed that makes it different. And Picoult has written a stimulating story for this reader.
While I enjoyed reading about the elephants I really felt there was too much information and background on them. I understand the relationship between the elephants' stories and the story of Jenna and Alice but I found myself a little bored. I actually skimmed over a lot of the elephant stuff.
The story of Jenna,her mother,researcher and scientist,Alice,her father Tom,Serenity the psychic and
Virgil the retired cop is a very,very clever good one!
There is a very big aha surprise at the end
certain movie I once saw.....................
This was an Early Reviewer book for me. Probably the best one I ever got!
Like all of Jodi Picoult's books, this was a real page turner with some great twists. It was unusual for her in that it was a murder mystery that kept me guessing. And I loved all the information about elephants. Good book!
Huh? Wait. What? No way! OK... now it is all making sense... wow....
We are first introduced to the three female narrators, each in her own voice: 13 year old Jenna; her mother Alice, who ten years ago checked herself out of a hospital never to be
I liked Alice's chapters least of all, and there were a lot of them. We are not yet to know whether she is alive, dead, or where she is, so Alice's voice speaks of her past work with elephants, repeating some of the same facts that we learned from her in the prequel Larger than Life. That was fine as I do find it pretty fascinating stuff, but these chapters went by slowly; I was very distracted by Alice's voice sounding more like an extremely sleepy, bored teenager than a woman in her 20's or 30's. The book at first felt very Young Adult-ish to me.
Then my boyfriend Mark Deakins came on the scene and gave his voice to Virgil, the detective who was one of the last to see Alice before she became a missing person. I will actively seek out his books, so he was a wonderful surprise. Virgil was just the pick-me-up the book needed, and Jenna helped him to pick himself up out of his drunken stupor too. Unfortunately, Mark Deakins' chapters were few and far between.
But what an ending; one I will not soon forget. I recommend if you like animals and huge plot twists.
Anyway. Leaving Time is about thirteen year old Jenna's search for the truth of what happened to her mother. Her mother has been missing since an accident at an elephant sanctuary, where she was a researcher. Jenna is helped by a retired/fired police detective and a psychic.
I loved the parts of the book that were from the perspective of Jenna's mother, starting from before Jenna was even conceived. She is a researcher in Africa, and falls in love with a visiting man who runs an elephant sanctuary. It is a difficult relationship, but a well-told story. And there are lots of great details about elephants in the wild and in sanctuaries.
much about elephants, definitely more than needed for the storyline.the book would have been cut by about a third if it was taken out, even some of it. I'm an
The story itself was great, the characters engaging as usual, but i hated the ending.
Reading Progress
12/03 marked as: currently-reading
12/04 20.0% "I may not like elephants as much as I thought. This may end up being a DNF."
12/04 50.0% "still not sure what I think of this book."
12/05 80.0% "the narration is keeping me
12/18 marked as: read
I finished it, which is saying something and I think the only thing that kept me listening was the narration which was very well done. But the book itself was just Meh.
The big “reveal” was dumb, and reminiscent of a certain movie that I cannot name because it will give it away, has been done and it threw out anything I thought I might like about this book.
2 Stars
I received this book from Librarything Early Reviewers but couldn’t get into it so ended up listening on audio.
I found this book confusing and frustrating. There was a lot going on with different characters and different times so it interrupted the flow of the story for me. I liked Jenna and she was my favorite character...she was a fighter. Definitely not my favorite Picoult book, but she is a favorite author of mine.