The Most IMPORTANT Novel of the Year (Book Review)

"That's not humility you see on our long final journeys:

          it's procrastination.  It hurts my heavy body to lie down." 

- Dan Chiasson, "The Elephant"  (as quoted in the novel)

Photo by Emelie Johansson 

Etosha, Namibia

This is the hardest book review I've written to date.  Emotional on so many levels, Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult is about a young girl trying to find out the truth about her mother's disappearance ten years earlier.  The story is told through the viewpoints of the four main characters: Jenna, a 13-year-old searching for her mother; Alice, a scientist studying elephant behavior and grief; Virgil, a burned out private detective; and Serenity, a washed-up psychic whose past mistakes have caused her to give up on her own unique talents.

The story brings you on a journey through the supernatural world that takes you on wild twists and turns before ending with a climax that will blow your mind! The mystery behind Alice's whereabouts and the rest of the bizarre circumstances that occurred the night of her disappearance will have you anxiously turning the pages. At the end you'll look back and everything you've read will fall neatly into place.  This is a well-written, deeply thought out story.

Yet, at the heart of the novel are the true protagonists, the elephants. While the characters and events are fiction, there is nothing fictional about the plight of elephants portrayed in the story.  Most of us are aware of the studies showing elephants grieving over lost loved-ones. We've read how they take part in communal rituals such as burying their dead and even how they've been known to actually shed tears. Through meticulous research, Picoult provides us with heartwarming accounts of these majestic creatures.  I could read the elephant observation notes all day and not get tired of them.

Photo by Emelie Johansson
Etosha, Namibia

For those of you who know me well, you know I'm a highly emotional animal advocate. So it won't shock you to know that I was shedding tears by page 7 and by page 396 I was sobbing. The reason this novel touched me so profoundly and made me want to tell everyone to read it can be summed up in one word - elephants. Through her beautiful writing, Picoult portrays the urgency  in which our elephants need our help!  Both in the wild, due to the ivory trade, and in captivity, where elephants are typically abused and mentally broken from the unnatural surroundings, elephants need our action and they need it now!!

What can you do?  Educate yourself on the plight of elephants. Do not support circuses or other industries that use animals as entertainment. Support organizations like World Elephant Day and The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee, a setting in the novel and an actual place, by visiting their website at www.elephants.com and Global Sanctuary for Elephants at www.globalelephants.org who need our help to build and operate elephant sanctuaries all over the world.

I'd be shocked if you don't come away from this book with a deep connection to these amazing animals and fire in your gut to save and protect them. This novel has the ability to bring elephant conservation to the forefront of animal preservation. I've never felt the need to thank an author for writing a  book, but Picoult merits praise for raising awareness. The elephants need us to make a difference before it's too late.

**If you liked Leaving Time, check out Picoult's novella, Larger Than Life**

Photo by Emelie Johansson
Etosha, Namibia

Photo by Emelie Johansson
Etosha, Namibia

Sincere thanks to photographer and dear friend, Emelie Johansson, for allowing me to use her breathtaking photos. You may see more of Johansson's photography on Instagram @emelie.linnea and at www.emeliejohansson.org.