Author: Jodi Picoult
ISBN: 0425185508
Website: http://www.jodipicoult.com/
“To the outside world, they seem to have it all. Cassie Barrett, a renowned anthropologist, and Alex Rivers, one of Hollywood’s hottest actors, meet on the set of a motion picture in Africa. They have a whirlwind romance and declare their love in a fairy-tale wedding. But when they return to California, something alters the picture or their perfect marriage. A frightening pattern takes shape – a cycle of hurt, rage, denial and promises, thinly veiled by glamour.”
The synopsis doesn’t really give you a clue about the book.
Cassandra Barret wakes up in a cemetery, bleeding from the head and suffering from amnesia. She cannot remember who she is, or where she lives. Will flying Horse, a new LAPD officer, finds her wandering aimlessly near a graveyard and takes her in. Days later when her husband comes to claim her at the police stations, no one is more stunned than Cassie to learn that not only is she a renowned anthropologist, but she is married to Hollywood’s leading man, Alex Rivers.
As Cassie gets accustomed to her fairy-tale existence, fragments of her memory return, her whirlwind romance in Africa, her major anthropological discovery, the trajectory of Alex’s career. Yet she finds uneasiness nagging at her. When she finds a positive pregnancy test, all the dark memories come rushing back to her. To protect her unborn child, she runs to Will, who agrees to take her to live with his grandparents in South Dakota. Cassie is exposed to a culture and a lifestyle that is completely new to her. It liberates her.
Alex, Cassie and Will all had difficult childhoods, and all try to run away from their pasts. They struggle with the question of nature versus nurture and how it defines and individual. I loved this book. I loved the way she described the psyche of the victim, the helplessness of the abuser, and the tragedy of such an illustrious life.
This is my first Jodi Picoult book and it was interesting enough to want me to read more.
My rating: 3.5/5
Maddie's Musings 