Harvesting the Heart: A Novel | Jodi Picoult | What does it mean to be a mother?

Harvesting the Heart: A Novel | Jodi Picoult | Wonderful Prose and No Courtroom

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Harvesting the Hea...

	Harvesting the Heart: A Novel Jodi Picoult Penguin (Non-Classics), 1995 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 96 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

What does it mean to be a mother?

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.

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Wonderful Prose and No Courtroom

I read Harvesting the Heart looking for something other than the standard Picoult courtroom, suspense-rich drama. Prior to this novel, I read several of her courtroom novels, and although they were excellent reads, I needed a break from the format. Picoult's writing is drenched with rich, realistic characters for which readers humanistically identify, and Harvesting the Heart is her writing at is best minus the susprnse-dominated drama. The book is a fantastic read.

Nicolas and Paige, the two primary characters and the points of view from which the narrative is told, are superbly drawn and complex. Both Paige and Nicholas' flaws are very humanistic and identifyable. The reader has no choice but to empathize, hate, celebrate, and scold each as the narrative unfolds. Even the more static characters such as Astrid and Robert Prescott are believable.

The story does not lead you on a "whodunit" trail. Instead, it pleasantly unfolds the love story of a man and woman from different circumstances - two humans who find each other and, through human flaw, nearly lose out on life's finest treasures.

The book is a very worthwile read that holds you entranced in Picoult's pleasantly artistic yet simple prose.

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Good book

This is the 2nd book I have read by Jodi Picoult. The first one was Vanishing Acts. This book I could hardly put down. A very good story. I have ordered another of Ms. Picoults books from Amazon and hope it comes soon.

Harvesting the Heart

Jodi Picoult is a wonderful writer. She uses rich language and her stories touch your heart. She deals with some heavy issues! I would recommend her to anyone.

Harvesting the Heart and other Jodi Picoult books

I have read a number of Jodi Picoult's books and always enjoy the story. Her characters are well developed and the reader is invested in them - which makes her endings all the more disappointing. It seems as if she becomes tired of her characters and wraps up story lines quickly without a real ending. Harvesting the Heart actually had a more satisfying resolution than Saving Faith or Vanishing Acts - which, after a great build up and story just.....ended. Wrapped up too quickly, unrealistically and just over. As if she became tired of telling this story mid way through.
The Pact is probably one of the better resolutions in books of hers that I have read - but overall I would enjoy her stories better if the conclusions were actually brought to one. I leave her books wondering what happened after she quit writing and that is not satisfying.

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