Leaving Time (with bonus novella Larger Than Life): A Novel

Jodi Picoult

Oct 2014 · Sold by Ballantine Books

About this eBook

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A deeply moving, gripping, and intelligent page-turner about a daughter’s search for her mother, Leaving Time is Jodi Picoult at the height of her powers.

Includes the novella Larger Than Life

Throughout her blockbuster career, Jodi Picoult has seamlessly blended nuanced characters, riveting plots, and rich prose, brilliantly creating stories that “not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us” (The Boston Globe). Now, in Leaving Time, she has delivered a book unlike anything she’s written before.

For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe she was abandoned, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts.

Desperate to find the truth, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies in her quest: Serenity Jones, a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons, only to later doubt her gifts, and Virgil Stanhope, the jaded private detective who’d originally investigated Alice’s case along with the strange, possibly linked death of one of her colleagues. As the three work together to uncover what happened to Alice, they realize that in asking hard questions, they’ll have to face even harder answers.

As Jenna’s memories dovetail with the events in her mother’s journals, the story races to a mesmerizing finish.

Praise for Leaving Time

“Piercing and uplifting . . . a smart, accessible yarn with a suspenseful puzzle at its core.”—The Boston Globe

“Poignant . . . an entertaining tale about parental love, friendship, loss.”—The Washington Post

“A riveting drama.”—Us Weekly

“[A] moving tale.”—People

“A fast-paced, surprise-ending mystery.”—USA Today

“In Jenna, [Jodi] Picoult has created an unforgettable character who will easily endear herself to each and every reader. . . . Leaving Time may be her finest work yet.”—Bookreporter

“[A] captivating and emotional story.”—BookPage

Ratings and reviews

It was such a beautiful novel. Jodi Piccoults best work since "The Pact" in my opinion. The twist at the end completely surprised me and left me in tears (happy and sad). I highly recommend this book to anyone.

My sister told me to read it when I called her crowing about Ringling Bros. said to retire their elephants by 2018. We have been huge animal rights advocates since we were young. In our 60s now, my sister is an active rescuer of beagles. I donate. JP brought me to tears and not for the first time.

I went though this entire book hoping for one outcome only to be blindsided with how the last few chapters play out. Once again, another spectacular book by Mrs. Picoult. And, once again I find myself waiting, somewhat impatiently for her next.

About the author

Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-five novels, including Small Great Things, Leaving Time, The Storyteller, Lone Wolf, Sing You Home, House Rules, Handle with Care, Change of Heart, Nineteen Minutes, and My Sister’s Keeper. She is also the author, with daughter Samantha van Leer, of two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Picoult lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children.