Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60769 in Books
• Published on: 1995-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Review
aPicoult writes with a fine touch, a sharp eye for detail, and a firm grasp of the delicacy and complexity of human relationships.a
a"The Boston Globe"
aPicoult has become a masteraalmost a clairvoyantaat targeting hot issues and writing highly readable page-turners about them . . . It is impossible not to be held spellbound by the way she forces us to think, hard, about right and wrong.a
a"The Washington Post"

Synopsis
Now with a child of her own, Paige is still haunted by memories of her own mother, who left when she was five, and plagued by constant self-doubt.

From the Author
Every mother I've met who's read the book connects with it.
I wrote HEART after having my first child, and feeling completely overwhelmed---in retrospect, it was a cheap alternative to psychological counseling, I think...which is why so many mothers I've met are moved by the story of Paige and Nicholas. I used to dream about leaving my son with my husband when I went grocery shopping...and then I'd just keep going! After speaking to other women who'd harbored the same secret thoughts, I decided to create a character who might actually do it. HEART has turned out to be quite a favorite of book discussion groups, because of the issues raised regarding motherhood and marriage. I'd love to hear comments from readers!

Customer Reviews

Grab the Kleenexes. This one pulls at your heartstrings
Jodi Picoult captures in this one book so many different emotions that young mothers are never warned about. The exhaustion, the futility, the loss of identity, the self-doubt, and most of all the desperation. Paige's drive to the grocery store leaving behind a trail of her husband's laundry is seered in my memory. How many times during my early years of motherhood would I have loved to have driven off and never looked back. Inlaws that don't approve of you, mothers who never showed you how to love, fathers whose expectations you couldn't meet, and husbands who live for their careers and are no longer attracted to your post-partum, frazzled self. Why wouldn't you run away! This book did, thankfully, show there is light at the end of the tunnel. All of the characters seemed to find that sometimes it is when we "run away" that we realize how much we need the things we are running from. I cried through the last 100 pages of this book. What a wonderful story.

A beautifully moving book
I just finished HARVESTING THE HEART and I was moved to tears. This is a beautifully written, deeply affecting book about a young woman's struggle with self-doubt and her coming to terms with herself and her past. I'm constantly amazed by Jodi Picoult's writing, and look forward to reading more of her work.

9 out of 10
As in other books by Jodi Picoult, there is a central theme involving human emotions of both hope and despair. In this case postnatal depression and the loneliness and anguish that result, drive Paige, a young mother, to leave her 3 month old baby and run.
This is wonderfully woven into the story of how she met her husband on the rebound from an intense childhood romance and the need to track down her mother who abandoned her at the age of 5.
Nicholas is training to be a surgeon, eventually reaching the pinnacle in his field, and is totally thrown by suddenly having to care for his young son alone.
The relationship struggle between himself and Paige is beautifully drawn, a heart-wrenching tale of misunderstandings. Nicholas used to total respect and awe from his colleagues, Paige somewhat childish but fresh and vibrant in her behaviour, with mesmerising artistic talent.
Excellently drawn, I really enjoyed this book. 9 out of 10 because the ending was a touch contrived, I'd have preferred it to finish on page 388 before she revealed her secret. Enough said.
Highly recommended.