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!

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Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins

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We all know Jackie Collins. She’s up there with Jilly Cooper, and writes about the people who fascinate us: Hollywood celebrities. Ahh, celebrities – fascinating, mysterious and hailed as the leading lights of each successive generation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as taken in as the next person, but let’s be honest about it.

This is the original bestseller, not ‘The New Generation’ published in 2001. This one was published in 1983, pre-dating our modern celebrity culture, ambitions and expectations – well, I thought so anyway. I’m not sure if it’s reassuring or depressing to think attitudes 25 years ago are actually the same as now. We haven’t changed much at all.

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