Sometimes finding your own voice

is a matter of listening to the heart....

Jodi Picoult's powerful novel portrays an emotionally charged marriage that changes course in one explosive moment....For years, Jane Jones has lived in the shadow of her husband, renowned San Diego oceanographer Oliver Jones. But during an escalating argument, Jane turns on him with an alarming volatility. In anger and fear, Jane leaves with their teenage daughter, Rebecca, for a cross-country odyssey charted by letters from her brother Joley, guiding them to his Massachusetts apple farm, where surprising self-discoveries await. Now Oliver, an expert at tracking humpback whales across vast oceans, will search for his wife across a continent -- and find a new way to see the world, his family, and himself: through her eyes.

Songs of the Humpback Whale: A Novel in Five Voices

ANNOTATION

This remarkable and vibrant first novel interweaves five rich narrative voices to tell a story of love, pain, and self-discovery. A powerful, sensitive work that questions how songs are passed down between male speakers and examines the tradition of listening that women unconsciously pass on to their daughters.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Jodi Picoult's powerful novel portrays an emotionally charged marriage that changes course in one explosive moment....For years, Jane Jones has lived in the shadow of her husband, renowned San Diego oceanographer Oliver Jones. But during an escalating argument, Jane turns on him with an alarming volitility. In anger and fear, Jane leaves with their teenage daughter, Rebecca, for a cross-country odyssey charted by letters from her brother Joley, guiding them to his Massachusetts apple farm, where surprising self-discoveries await. Now Oliver, an expert at tracking humpback wales across vast oceans, will search for his wife across a continent—and find a new way to see the world, his family, and himself: through her eyes.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

As Picoult uses five voices to tell a complex tale of love, friendship and a Faulknerian family history, her mastery of language strongly individuates her characters. The primary voice in this accomplished first novel belongs to Jane Jones, a speech pathologist living in San Diego, Calif. Other narrators are her daughter Rebecca; her husband, Oliver, a marine biologist renowned for his research on the songs of humpback whales; her brother Joley; and her lover, Sam. When an argument between Jane and Oliver culminates in her striking him, Jane is shattered. A childhood victim of physical and sexual abuse, Jane has tried to submerge her memories, but this outbreak of violence causes her to reexamine her life. On a cross-country automobile trip, Jane and Rebecca travel to Stow, Mass., where Joley is living and where each woman meets the man she believes is her destiny. Jane relates the events that occur from San Diego to Stow, while Rebecca tells the story in reverse, flashing back from the climax. Their stories intersect in an Iowa cornfield that still bears the wreckage of the airliner on which then-three-year-old Rebecca was being sent back to her father during her parents' earlier separation; she was one of five survivors. This powerful and affecting novel demonstrates that there are as many truths to a story as there are people to tell it. (Apr.)

Library Journal

This uniquely constructed first novel, the literary equivalent of counterpoint in music, is told in five voices whose polyphonic development delineates a multifaceted love story on different levels for different individuals. These voices belong to five characters--Jane, who has sacrificed her life to her oceanographer husband's career; her daughter, Rebecca, whom Jane seeks to protect; and three very different men in their lives. As Jane heads east from San Diego with her daughter, having abandoned her husband to his whale tapes, the characters' contrapuntal recollections offer psychological insights into their lives. These insights lead to growth, second chances, and love. Charming and poignant, Picoult's novel is even better after a second reading. For public libraries.-- Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, Md.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"Jodi Picoult is a diva of voices. Songs of the Humpback Whale resonates and connect." — Michael Martone

"In her remarkable and vibrant first novel, Jodi Picoult displays near perfect pitch. Songs of the Humpback Whale is ingeniously structured and reminiscent of early Anne Tyler. Picoult has written a compelling story of family, of loss and misunderstanding, and reconciliation. Her characters are made real through their brilliant voices. Indeed, this novel sings." — Mary Morris

"I picked up Songs of the Humpback Whale and was hooked from page one. It is both rich and charming. Jodi Picoult cast a spell over the reader with her beautiful imagery and language. Reading this book is a delight." — Ann Hood