Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Piccoult

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I’m a big Jodi Piccoult fan. I’ll say that up front.

Songs of the Humpback Whale is about a single child family going through a crisis. Within the first 20 pages, Jane and Oliver, mum and dad, argue. Jane and daughter Rebecca leg it to find Jane’s brother, Joel. Their journey across the United States, including Oliver’s attempts to find them, is actually a backdrop for the real story: how they became who they are.

It’s not a straight journey, starting on day one and finishing when they get there. Piccoult uses flashbacks and five different voices to get her story across, which I like, even if sometimes it’s annoying. I want to keep going with the first character and find out what happens! It’s also not a straight storyline, because life is more complicated than that. There are romantic liaisons, awful admissions, and childhood stories to make you weep. Jane, Oliver and Rebecca are a normal family. Oliver is Very Famous (capitals are Jane’s) and misses most of his daughter’s birthdays. Jane is very close to her brother Joel, which is why she goes to him when she leaves Oliver. Joel works on an apple farm with a young man called Sam. Young hot man, to be precise – cue marital conflict for Jane. There’s another hot young man called Hadley – cue teenage angst for Rebecca. Although it’s not angsty as Piccoult is very respectful of teenagers. Plus, Rebecca is a pretty awesome young woman.

The different chapters written by different characters are not in chronological order, and there are events introduced early that don’t actually happen till the end of the book. There are also stories from people’s pasts that will change your opinion of them. If you think about it, this is how we get to know people. We don’t sit down and tell each other our life stories from age three to now. We share bits and pieces as we go, and a comment, a place or an event reminds us of moments in our lives we then decide to share – or not. Everyone has secrets, right?

Piccoult is a master (mistress?) at getting you inside people’s heads. She shows you the ugly thoughts we have, harsh judgements we pass on each other, and secrets we keep from each other. But when you read a book from inside a single character’s head, you don’t see that character in the real world. You can’t know how other people judge him or her, and you only ever see what the character wants you to see. Even if he or she messes up somewhere along the line, you’re going to know about it from his or her point of view.

Piccoult instead gives you get a sense of people in the real world. They have depth and personality, and you can compare them to yourself and to people you know, judge them against your own values and experiences, and decide whether you like them or not. It can be a bit uncomfortable, knowing you’ve found someone wanting, but boy does it make them real. Whether good or bad, every experience you share with people changes how you see them and yourself.  You don’t stop loving people when you judge them; you simply add what happens to your mental picture of them.

You might not like the ending of this book. Some of the things you understand might make you uncomfortable. Like many of Piccoult’s books, there’s relief tinged with compromise. There are no fairytale endings, and some stories end with tragedy, whether we admit it or not. If you’re after big adventure, this is not the Jodi Piccoult book for you. But if you like people and how they interact, I think you’ll like it a lot.

Title: Songs of the Humpback Whale
Author: Jodi Piccoult
Format: Paperback, 346 pages
Publisher: Hodder And Stoughton