liza thomas

It had the characteristic Piccoult stamp - well researched, exquisitely detailed and rich in original metaphor. It was a great theme and started out with tremendous potential. But, the protagonist was rather unbelievable. It was effortful to try and relate to her most of the time and at other times especially at the end she positively made me cringe. It’s one thing having flawed characters but this one was a whole different mould. The husband was too good to be true and Wyatt was just a caricature. The initimate scenes were far to many and contrived. Her profession as a death doula was rather interesting and she did have some terrific insights. The mother daughter relationship was the other redeeming feature in this otherwise lacklustre novel. ( And why was there a child with oppositional defiant disorder ?! Didn’t get the point if it ) It felt like different bits and pieces were somehow sewn together in an Egyptology theme and sold as a Jodi Piccoult tag. ( Did the computer program write it? ) Yes definitely not one of her best works. I think the pressure to be commercial or marketable is showing. It has an artificiality… almost insincere. I wish she would come back with something which has more heart, more of herself. And I hope I get over this one enough to be able to want to read that.