November 2010 Good Housekeeping selection.

Jodi Picoult’s latest offering, Harvesting the Heart, sees new mother Paige struggling with being a parent. Doubting her ability to cope and haunted by the fact that her own mother left her when she was only five, she wonders whether her baby would be better off without her. As always, Picoult tackles this moral dilemma with honest conviction and beautifully written prose.

Synopsis

Paige has only a few vivid memories of her mother, who abandoned her when she was five. Now, having left home and her father for dreams of art school and marriage to an ambitious young doctor, Paige finds herself with a child of her own. Emotionally and physically exhausted, overwhelmed by the demands of her family, Paige cannot forget her mother's absence or the shameful memories from her own past. Her next step would have been unthinkable before her doubts about her maternal ability crept into her mind. Is it possible Paige's baby would be better off without her?

Reviews

'Jodi Picoult explores the fragile ground of ambivalent motherhood in this lush second novel'
New York Times Book Review

'A brilliant, moving examination of motherhood, brimming with detail and emotion'
Richmond Times

-Dispatch 'Jodi Picoult's novels often focus on lives turned upside down by some terrible event, and it's her way with the small emotional detail that makes them so rewarding
Marie Claire

'Picoult is at her best when she is writing about motherhood'
New York Daily News

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