Monday, November 12, 2007

Songs of the Humpback Whale: A Novel in Five Voices

by Jodi Picoult

A plane crash. A childhood of abuse. An unhappy marriage. An adolescent daughter. And an orchard.

A husband who prefers whale research. A wife who just wants to be loved. A daughter who is a survivor. A brother who is a survivor. And an unassuming apple farmer.

Picoult brings these incidents, voices, and situations together in Songs of the Humpback Whale. This is typical Picoult in its revelations of sordid behavior and beings. But unlike subsequent novels, she doesn’t pull any surprise punches at the end. It was okay: I read it quickly and became instantly engrossed in the story and its unique narrative structure, but I never really liked any of the characters.

11/12/07

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