Book Review / Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult

Sometimes finding your own voice
is a matter of listening to the heart....
 
Jodi Picoult's powerful novel portrays an emotionally charged marriage that changes course in one explosive moment....For years, Jane Jones has lived in the shadow of her husband, renowned San Diego oceanographer Oliver Jones. But during an escalating argument, Jane turns on him with an alarming volatility. 

In anger and fear, Jane leaves with their teenage daughter, Rebecca, for a cross-country odyssey charted by letters from her brother Joley, guiding them to his Massachusetts apple farm, where surprising self-discoveries await. 

Now Oliver, an expert at tracking humpback whales across vast oceans, will search for his wife across a continent -- and find a new way to see the world, his family, and himself: through her eyes.

Published:     25th March 1992
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

What I liked about this story...   This is a reread for me (one of my projects for 2016 and 2017 is to work through re-reading my favourite authors - I will be doing a post on challenges soon...).  I read this first back in August 2010 and had given it a two star rating.  The main reason for starting to read this first this time is mainly because this was the first book written by Jodi Picoult and I wanted to star from the beginning.
I enjoyed this story a lot more than the last time I read it.  Maybe it was the mood I was in at the time of reading or maybe because six years have elapsed and because I am six years older I may appreciate the story in a different way I would have six years ago.

This story does touch on some very sensitive subjects (which is why I know and love Jodi Picoult's writing).  Without giving away any spoilers, I will just say that this story covers aspects of domestic violence and inappropriate relationships.  I found it very interesting to see how Jodi covered these sensitive subjects and reading how she dealt with them. 

What I didn't like about this story...  This story is written so that it jumps between each character in each subsequent chapter.  I would have loved for the story to have been less 'jumpy' and more in a time line that i could follow but that said I can completely understand the 'flash back' chapters when something happened to Jane's daughter.