I have a colleague who says that Jodi Picoult is too good at playing with her head... She's right; think organ donation in My Sister's Keeper and the ideas of right and wrong in A Change of Heart. Well, Picoult has done it again and in a fabulous way in Leaving Time.This novel centers on elephants, memories, and, most importantly, the ties between mothers and daughters. It is fascinating to read this story which is told by several voices: teenage Jenna, her mother Alice, and investigators Serenity and Virgil. The story spans about a dozen years and crosses continents, with Alice often contributing details about her work on grief and animal cognition at an elephant sanctuary in Africa. I found Leaving Time to be a totally engrossing read with likeable characters. It is one I wanted to start re-reading as soon as I finished. Highly recommended if you like mysteries, are curious about elephants, and welcome an opportunity to reflect about mother and daughter relationships.
For another read about human-animal relationships, try, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler which won the Pen/Faulkner award in 2014, was nominated for the Nebula Award and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
