Harvesting the Heart [Paperback]

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Harvesting the Heart [Paperback]

Product Details

Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (April 1, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0140230270
ISBN-13: 978-0140230277
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

By : Jodi Picoult
Price : $10.88
You Save : $5.12 (32%)

Customer Reviews

This is the fourth book that I've read by Jodi Picoult and it is my favorite so far. This is a beautifully written story about self-doubt, the chance to find yourself, and the bond that exists between a mother and child.
The novel begins in the present with Paige locked out of her own house pleading with her husband Nicholas to see their child,Max. The story continues from there, shifting from Paige's perspective to Nicholas'. We learn that Paige has been abandoned by her mother, then flees from her hometown after dealing with a traumatic incident at a young age. She soon falls in love with Nicholas, a soon to be doctor who's own star is on the rise. Paige is an artist at heart but abandons her own dream to help support the career of her husband. She soon becomes a mother herself and tries to be a loving one but doubts her ability to do so. She carries the burden of her mother's desertion. In order to stand on her own she has to go back to her past, to the mother who left her. From there she has to learn how to love.
This book differs from her others in that there is no mystery to be solved here, there is no court room scenes. There is just the tender story of two people, two souls that are meant to be together, and the journey that their lives take them on. Jodi has an incredible way with words and her storytelling here is absolutely superb. It is a book to be savoured.

Paige and her Irish-Catholic father are deserted by her mother when she is 5 years old. She has dim memories of a woman who was at times a delightful and playful companion and at other times, a brooding and unhappy person. Paige doubts her self-worth and wonders what she did to drive her mother away. Despite the pain of being abandoned herself, she begins a pattern of running away from people and situations that are overwhelming to her. She wonders if it is her fate to become just like her mother. While working as a waitress in a diner, she meets Nicholas, a wealthy and charismatic medical student, who, amazingly, is interested in her. Their relationship flourishes, despite the objections of his aristocratic parents, and eventually they marry. Their early married life is idyllic, but eventually changes occur which make things unbearable for Paige. She reverts to her old habits and begins a search for her mother in an attempt to discover who she and her mother really are. As usual in a Jodi Picoult novel, the characters are finely drawn and the plot is gripping. This book "grabbed" me at the beginning and never let me go until the very last page.