Leaving Time

As usual, Jodi Picoult focuses on current topics in her writing, and in recent years, the treatment of animals has become a significant issue. In this book, she tells the story of majestic elephants and illustrates how they experience grief in ways that are almost human-like.

I have developed a soft spot for elephants; it's hard not to fall in love with them. The book is well-researched and offers a fascinating narrative that is about more than just elephants living in a sanctuary.

It also follows a young girl who is trying to uncover the truth behind her mother's disappearance years ago. She is assisted by a retired detective and a questionable psychic. This novel intertwines the story of the elephants with a compelling mystery, filled with family drama, love, and suspense. It is absorbing and has become one of my favorite books by Picoult so far. As always, I look forward to her next work.

Ballantine Books · Fiction · 496 pages

For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared after a tragic accident. Refusing to believe she was abandoned, Jenna searches for her mother online and pores over Alice's journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly about her research, but Jenna hopes those pages hold a clue.

Desperate for answers, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies: Serenity Jones, a once-famous psychic who doubts her gift, and Virgil Stanhope, the jaded private detective who investigated Alice's case and a possibly linked death. As they work together, they uncover hard truths and even harder answers. As Jenna's memories dovetail with her mother's journals, the story races toward a surprising, emotional finish-a deeply moving page-turner from Jodi Picoult.

1. Despite their different backgrounds, Jenna, Serenity, and Virgil form an unconventional family. What brings them together? Have you found support from an unlikely source?

2. Alice says 98% of science is quantifiable, leaving 2% that can't be measured. Do you agree? What belongs in that 2%?

3. Virgil worries that the truth might hurt Jenna more than not knowing. Have you faced a similar dilemma?

4. Serenity's fake readings work because people seek sense in the nonsensical. If a reading brings comfort, does it matter if it's faked?

5. Were you surprised by the character who appears at the very end? Why or why not?

6. Discuss the ways elephant grief appears in the book. Where is it similar to, or different from, human mourning?

7. How do characters cope with loss? Which approaches resonated with you?

8. Does Thomas's behavior justify Alice's affair with Gideon? What would you have done?

9. Jenna compares her search to Ahab's pursuit in Moby-Dick and Javert's in Les Misérables. Do you agree she's defined by the search?

10. Why does Serenity lose her gift? How does Jenna help bring it back?

11. Do you believe in ghosts? If you could communicate with someone who passed away, who would it be?

12. Discuss the title Leaving Time. What meanings can you find?

13. "Negative moments get remembered. Traumatic ones get forgotten." Do you agree? Why might memories diverge between people?