I cannot recommend this author highly enough.  She always tackles nutty social issues, high emotional topics but refrains from being overly sentimental.  She lets the power of the plot speak for itself.  This involves the kidnapping of a daughter from her mother by her father 28 years previously.  The police have just caught up with him.  The story unfolds in sections with each having a chapter from the view point of a different character.  The result is remarkable.

Similar this month: Elizabeth Berg, Rachel Hore.
Comparison: Anita Shreve, Jane Hamilton.

Synopsis

Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her widowed father Andrew, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiancé, and her own Search and Rescue bloodhound - which she uses to find missing persons. But as she plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can`t recall. Then a policeman shows up at her door, arresting her father for the kidnap of a little girl. And Delia`s past and present fracture into little pieces.

VANISHING ACTS is a book about the very nature and power of memory. It explores what happens when the past we have been running from catches up to us, and questions who we trust to tell us the story of our lives before we are capable of remembering it ourselves.

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About the Author

Jodi Picoult grew up in Nesconset, New York. She received an A.B. in creative writing from Princeton and a master's degree in education from Harvard. Her previous novels include Keeping Faith, The Pact, and Mercy. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. Photograph © Gasper Tringale More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation