Reviews

Jan 28, 2009 10:22am
The first book I read in 2009, and I’ve already read nine different books by different authors. I have read every single one of Jodi Picoult’s books and I think they are amazing and due to that this review may ramble on a little. She tends to write from the perspective of each of her characters and Songs of the Humpback Whale is no different. We’re given the chance to hear from the thoughts of a mother, her daughter and three men who influence both of their lives. We find that Jane escaped a childhood of abuse by marrying the attractive oceanographer, Oliver Jones. But it’s not the life she dreamed of, and after an argument with her husband who is obsessed with his own career, she sets off from San Diego with her daughter, Rebecca, to her brother’s in Massachusettes. Through a series of letters, her brother, Joley, directs Jane across the US, giving her a chance to meet new people and remember the past. The past that has shaped her into the person she is today. Meanwhile, her husband now has the task of tracking down his wife and daughter, much like he does with male humpback whales. He is given the chance to see the world as his wife sees it as he tries to follow her across the country. This is a story of family, of love and the chance of a new life and Jodi Picoult writes it well. However, this was the first book of many that she was to write from the perspective of many characters and therefore, was not as seemlessly smooth as others I have read.

The first book I read in 2009, and I’ve already read nine different books by different authors. I have read every single one of Jodi Picoult’s books and I think they are amazing and due to that this review may ramble on a little. She tends to write from the perspective of each of her characters and Songs of the Humpback Whale is no different. We’re given the chance to hear from the thoughts of a mother, her daughter and three men who influence both of their lives. We find that Jane escaped a childhood of abuse by marrying the attractive oceanographer, Oliver Jones. But it’s not the life she dreamed of, and after an argument with her husband who is obsessed with his own career, she sets off from San Diego with her daughter, Rebecca, to her brother’s in Massachusettes. Through a series of letters, her brother, Joley, directs Jane across the US, giving her a chance to meet new people and remember the past. The past that has shaped her into the person she is today. Meanwhile, her husband now has the task of tracking down his wife and daughter, much like he does with male humpback whales. He is given the chance to see the world as his wife sees it as he tries to follow her across the country. This is a story of family, of love and the chance of a new life and Jodi Picoult writes it well. However, this was the first book of many that she was to write from the perspective of many characters and therefore, was not as seemlessly smooth as others I have read.

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