Book review: Leaving Time

BEST-SELLING author, Jodi Picoult, has given readers another winner in Leaving Time, which revolves around four characters – 13-year-old Jenna, her mother Alice, alcoholic ex-cop Virgil, and a psychic with pink hair called Serenity.
Alice and her husband Thomas Metcalf’s lives revolved around the elephants living in the sanctuary they once ran, and their genuine concern and scientific curiosity for the pachyderms have trickled down to their daughter Jenna.
However, 10 years ago, Alice, a scientist studying grief in elephants, went missing after an accident in the sanctuary in which one of their employees was trampled.
Alice was later found unconscious, and soon escaped from the hospital. Since the incident, Thomas has spent the past decade in a psychiatric hospital.
Meanwhile, Jenna digs up anything she can find about the night her mother disappeared.
The girl enlists the help of Serenity, despite being sceptical of her ability, and Virgil, who was one of the detectives investigating the incident in the elephant sanctuary.
What makes this book a good read is the layers Picoult weaves in her characters with intriguing circumstances. She likens the bond between Jenna and Alice to that of a mother elephant and her calf – a bond of close proximity until the demise of one.
The story offers breadcrumbs of information along the way that points you to an emotionally-charged ending.
You’ll be rooting for Jenna, and by the end of it all, will not be surprised to find yourself emotionally attached to more than one of the characters in Leaving Time.

It’s evident that Picoult has invested a lot of time researching about elephants, where she also attempts to raise awareness on the poaching of these creatures and the work of real-life elephant sanctuaries.
A definite good read that will tug at your emotional strings.