Challenge Corner discussion

1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A deeply moving, gripping, and intelligent page-turner, Leaving Time is Jodi Picoult at the height of her powers.

Throughout her blockbuster career, Jodi Picoult has seamlessly blended nuanced characters, riveting plots, and rich prose, brilliantly creating stories that “not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us” (The Boston Globe). Now, in Leaving Time, she has delivered a book unlike anything she’s written before.

For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe she was abandoned, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts.

Desperate to find the truth, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies in her quest: Serenity Jones, a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons, only to later doubt her gifts, and Virgil Stanhope, the jaded private detective who’d originally investigated Alice’s case along with the strange, possibly linked death of one of her colleagues. As the three work together to uncover what happened to Alice, they realize that in asking hard questions, they’ll have to face even harder answers.

As Jenna’s memories dovetail with the events in her mother’s journals, the story races to a mesmerizing finish.

Praise for Leaving Time

“Piercing and uplifting . . . a smart, accessible yarn with a suspenseful puzzle at its core.”—The Boston Globe

“Poignant . . . an entertaining tale about parental love, friendship, loss.”—The Washington Post

“A riveting drama.”—Us Weekly

“[A] moving tale.”—People

“A fast-paced, surprise-ending mystery.”—USA Today

“In Jenna, [Jodi] Picoult has created an unforgettable character who will easily endear herself to each and every reader. . . . Leaving Time may be her finest work yet.”—Bookreporter

“[A] captivating and emotional story.”—BookPage

20% (view spoiler)[ I love all of the random elephant facts!! This is great. I like Jenna and I'm so curious as to what happened to her mother. I hope she convinces Serenity to help her. Seems like there's a lot of promise in this. (hide spoiler)]

43% (view spoiler)[ I love how every time Jenna and Serenity go some place connected to her mother's disappearance, they find something related. I need to know what the hell happened between Jenna, her dad and her mother the night she disappeared. There's so many people that were involved in the case and I'm kinda confused as to who all those people are. But I love seeing all the different perspectives, especially Alice's studies in Africa. (hide spoiler)]

62% (view spoiler)[ Wow I'm so mad at Nevy or whatever her name is. She's so freaking rude to Alice. Working for a circus doesn't mean you know shit about elephants. UGH. Also, WTF is wrong with Jenna's dad?? I can't believe he hit her like that. It sounds like he's also a pretty hardcore drug user, or was before the incident. I hope they can locate this George/Gregory dude or whatever his name is and find out where the hell Alice is!? (hide spoiler)]

20 % (view spoiler)[ Jenna mother disappeared when she was 3 following an elephant attack that left one dead.was it truly an accident or murder.will serenity get her gift back....I am curious (hide spoiler)]

It doesn't look like your spoiler tag worked XD

83% (view spoiler)[ WHAT Now they think Alice is the one who was killed!? Holy crap. Plus, Alice and Gideon had an affair and the girl was pregnant! There's too much crazy going on. And Thomas was definitely unstable way before he was sent to the institution. My brain is just all over the place and I need to know if Alice really is alive or dead! And who did it!! (hide spoiler)]

40% (view spoiler)[ wow that's a lot of drama and emotion in a few chapters.things are getting more interesting.wonder what will happen next (hide spoiler)]

60% (view spoiler)[ got to say I hate nevvie.she claims she has seen the cruelty of the way the animals were treated in circuses.and Alice knows more than her because she studied elephants exclusively,yet nevvie tries to run the whole show. (hide spoiler)]

Ashy Khaira wrote: "60% [spoilers removed]"

I hate Nevvie

Finished (view spoiler)[ Holy crap!! Jenna was a ghost the whole time how the hell!? Wow. I am just so confused and amazed by that plot twist. Alice is alive yay!! But she's so sad without her babies. It seems like everyone except Alice, Serenity and Thomas were dead :( but wow this was pretty good. (hide spoiler)]

80% (view spoiler)[ wow i didn't see that coming.the betrayal,cheating,extramarital affairs.Still wondering of Alice is dead.who died during the attack at the sanctuary of nevvie is still alive. (hide spoiler)]

Finished (view spoiler)[ holy fuck i didnt expect that ending at all.i hate nevvie all the more now for killing a 5 year old girl.its interesting how jenna the spirit helped serenity get her psychic powers back.feel sad for alice who lost everyone whom she loved in her life,her mother,gideon,jenna,the elephant maura who helped protect her and so on so forth.had me crying at the end (hide spoiler)]

Andrea wrote: "It doesn't look like your spoiler tag worked XD"

fixed it lols