By now I think it’s obvious that one of my favorite authors
is Jodi Piccoult. She has the ability to
write the most captivating stories. I
can read her books in a matter of hours if I have the time. I just LOVE her to pieces. I just finished 2 of her books, which were
both fantastic.
The first book I read was Harvesting the Heart. This
book tells the story of Paige. Paige was
raised by her father after her mother disappeared when Paige was just 5. Paige’s father is a very devout Irish
Catholic. When Paige gets pregnant in
high school she chooses to abort the baby before her dad finds out about the
pregnancy. After Paige graduates, she
leaves her hometown of Chicago. With no
particular destination in mind, she jumps on a bus and heads east. She ends up in Massachusetts, where she gets
a job at a local diner. While
waitressing at the diner, she meets Nick, a young doctor. Nick and Paige fall in love and quickly get
married. While the first years of their
marriage are great, Paige feels pressure to fit into a world that she does not
belong. When Paige finds out she is
pregnant, she panics. Nick and she weren’t planning on having children until
Nick finished his residency and they had a more dependable income. When the baby arrives, Paige experiences a
bit of post partum depression. She fears that she is an inadequate mother
because she didn’t have an example of how a mother should be. When the baby rolls off of the couch one day
and gets a bloody noise, Paige panics. Nick arrives home and sees the blood. When Nick expresses concern about the
accident, Paige feels horrible. She tells Nick she needs some time alone and
leaves the house to run a few errands. The
freedom Paige feels while out running errands is so liberating that Paige gets
in her car and just keeps driving. Paige
finds herself back in Chicago. While
there, she decides she wants to find her mother. She hires a PI to help her locate her mother.
When Paige finds out that her mother is in North Carolina, she heads out to
find some answers as to why her mother left.
When Paige and her mother reconnect, Paige realizes that her mother and
her have a lot more in common than Paige initially thought. After a few months away from Massachusetts,
Paige decides to go back home to her husband and baby. The rest of the book tells the struggle that Paige
and Nick face as they try to piece together their lives and marriage.
This story really struck a chord with me. I think more women suffer from post partum
depression than care to admit. And
honestly I don’t blame them. While I haven’t had children yet (and don’t plan
to for a few more years) I can imagine that suddenly being completely
responsible for another human being can be a stressful experience. Paige grew up without a mother. She didn’t have an example for what a mother
should be and do. That must be another
overwhelming experience. I am pretty
sure I couldn’t abandon my husband and child for months, but I can understand
feeling the need or desire to escape.
While the story of Paige is on the drastic side, I think it is a story
that mothers can relate to. I really
enjoyed it. As I was reading I was hoping that Paige would come to her senses
and get back to her family. I understood the anger that Nick was feeling
towards Paige, but hoped that they would realize why the fell in love with each
other and that Nick would take Paige back.
It is another hit for Jodi Piccoult, which really shouldn’t come as a
surprise because she is awesome at what she does.
No comments:
Post a Comment