As a fan of Jodi Picoult, I was extremely happy to find this book atop my pile of Christmas presents this year (a gift from my wonderful best friend) as it had been a few months since I’d read one of her novels. Originally published in the U.S in 1993, the book was released in the U.K just last year following books such as Handle With Care and House Rules.
We are introduced to the character of Paige O’Toole as she watches her son and husband from afar, having walked out on them, leaving her husband Nicholas to raise their son Max. This starting place makes the reader automatically sympathise with the family she has seemingly abandoned, and question how we could ever like such a character, but as Picoult starts to unravel Paige’s past we learn there is a lot more to her than first appearences would suggest.
Paige was brought up in Chicago by her father, an Irishman who emigrated as a child and who has a passion for inventing. Her mother walked out on the two of them when Paige was just five years old, something that haunts Paige from that moment on, leaving her questioning her own ability as a potential mother.
One thing that dominates Paige’s childhood is her Catholic upbringing, even believing that her father could quite possibly have been a priest himself. Not only does it affect her home life but her school life too, leaving her struggling to hide those parts of her life which contradict those around hers’ beliefs, and causing her to question the God she has grown up knowing. Eventually she feels she no choice but to run away at eighteen after making a life changing decision and so starts her life somewhere new. Enter Nicholas, the Harvard medical student with a life that seems million miles away from Paige’s, who’s background couldn’t be more different, yet who sweeps her off her feet almost instantly.
Throughout the book we learn on Paige’s childhood, her memories of her father and those remaining of her mother. The book jumps back and forth in time but not in a way that makes it difficult to follow; the balance is just right and details of the past are revealed at exactly the right moments. Whilst reading you await every new piece of the puzzle and feel satisfied once it falls in to place. We learn of Paige's talent for drawing, how she can somehow bring out secrets in her sketches without realising. This particular skill takes a while to be believable but as the story goes on, these hidden parts to her drawings become one of the most fascinating and moving parts of the tale.
This book is one that focusses heavily on the characters and explores their relationships with each other, and this is what made it so enjoyable to read. As with many of Picoult’s novels we see the chapters written from different points of view, in the case of Harvesting the Heart alternating from Paige to Nicholas, which is what helps us understand their relationship, the similarities and the differences; the perfections and the flaws. They are characters you grow to care about, or at the very least grow curious about and at the very centre of this story is the question that brings the reader in “what would you do if it was you?”
A story of love, motherhood, relationships and fate, a brilliant, thought provoking read which grabs you instantly and leaves you wrapped up in the characters tales. Filled with beautiful, detailed descriptions it is the perfect book to escape in to and a book I would most definitely recommend. 4/5
Now for my "thing worth sharing" this week! A friend recently sent me the link to this spoof of the Harry Potter trailer I posted in my last blog post which properly cracked me up, enjoy!
Until next time!
Sarah x
