Everything changes in a single moment for Dawn Edelstein. She’s on a plane when the flight attendant makes an announcement: prepare for a crash landing. She braces herself as thoughts flash through her mind. The shocking thing is, the thoughts are not of her husband, but a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong.
Dawn, miraculously, survives the crash, but so do all the doubts that have suddenly been raised. She has led a good life. Back in Boston, there is her husband, Brian, her beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula, where she helps ease the transition between life and death for her clients .
But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a job she once studied for, but was forced to abandon when life suddenly intervened. And now, when it seems that fate is offering her second chances, she is not as sure of the choice she once made.
After the crash landing, the airline ensures the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers transportation wherever they want to go. The obvious option for Dawn is to continue down the path she is on and go home to her family. The other is to return to the archaeological site she left years before, reconnect with Wyatt and their unresolved history, and maybe even complete her research on The Book of Two Ways--the first known map of the afterlife.
As the story unfolds, Dawn’s two possible futures unspool side by side, as do the secrets and doubts long buried beside them. Dawn must confront the questions she’s never truly asked: What does a life well-lived look like? When we leave this earth, what do we leave behind? Do we make choices...or do our choices make us? And who would you be, if you hadn’t turned out to be the person you are right now?
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.
So I’m a huge Jodi Picoult fan, I’ve read almost all of her books (a few just didn’t take my fancy, I will get round to them though). So when this popped up on Netgalley, I knew I had to try. I requested her last 2 and was rejected for both, so when this one was accepted, I screamed. Everything else got pushed back and The Book of Two Ways went right to the top of my list. It took me a while to get through this, only for the reasons of distractions with 2 at home kids, both with special needs. But I tried reading every night before sleep. Last night I was awake until 1am finishing it, wiping my tears before they soaked my pillow.
The book starts with Dawn, who is on a plane which makes an emergency landing. We don’t know why or what really is happening, but the next step leads us to see where she decides to go next. The Story unfolds over 2 different places and a few different times. We see Water/Boston, which is her home with her husband and daughter, we see Land/Egypt, which follows her in Egypt with Wyatt. The chapters bounce from present to past, but it is easy to follow which is which.
Dawns job is a death doula, which made me think is this a real thing? And wow it is. What a brave job to do, in my opinion. Dawn talks about how she helps a patient at the end, how she will do anything they ask, be there if they wish when they take their final breath, stay around and help the loved ones left behind manage to grieve. My heart broke during the parts she was with a patient, the emotion Jodi put in those pages killed me, I will admit I cried more than once, almost always during those scenes.
The other side of the book is Dawn’s past when she was in Egypt as an archeological student, finding hidden treasures, decoding ancient Hieroglyphs, searching for the Book of Two Ways. I’m not going to lie, at first I found myself a bit confused with all the names of the Egyptian Kings and Queens, but I got used to it fairly quickly. I loved learning about The Book of Two Ways, googling things in the book to see what was true. The beauty behind it is lovely.
The book actually had me internet searching quite a bit of stuff, and I learned a lot! So thanks for that Jodi! The story is one filled with love and regret, hope and friendship. Again, bring tissues as it’s sad at the same time as being wonderful.
You pulled at my heartstrings again Ms Picoult, Thank you x
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