This week, I finally got around to finishing the 2020 release of one of my favorite authors, Jodi Picoult. Like many of my other favorite Picoult books, The Book of Two Ways definitely stretched my imagination and forced me to think outside of the box.
Dawn was an Egyptologist — and quite successful too — before her mother’s death. After her mother passed away, Dawn found comfort and purpose in serving as a death doula. She regularly assists those who are preparing to leave this world for the afterlife as well as the people that will be left behind. But Dawn has also left someone behind, the handsome Wyatt — the man she had loved deeply before she left him behind in Egypt to deal with her mother’s terminal diagnosis.
Now married to Brian and the mother of Meret, Dawn finds herself thinking about Wyatt as her flight begins a crash landing. Taking the airline’s offer to fly anywhere in the world, Dawn returns to Cairo in search of Wyatt — hoping to get answers to all of the “what if” questions that are circling in her mind. Is it possible to get answers from the man she loved while not deserting her daughter and husband? This question is at the heart of The Book of Two Ways and explores the possibilities through the lenses of Egyptian mythology, quantam physics theory, and regret when facing death’s door.
I feel as though I am going to explode if I don’t get my opinion about this book out in the open before going any further. I ABSOLUTELY HATED THIS BOOK! I never thought I would say that about this author’s work. Loathing is not a strong enough word. I didn’t find myself frustrated. I wasn’t confused by the broken timeline (not all of the time, at least). Certainly, there have been novels that I have liked better than others, but I always found value in the writing and knew that the time I spent reading Picoult’s book was time well spent. This time, I felt betrayed by Picoult. Truthfully, after sticking with her through The Book of Two Ways, I will have to give serious thought to whether or not I will read her next release. My disappointment in this book was that severe.
Why did I have such an extreme reaction to this book? It felt as though Picoult was trying too hard to establish herself as a great thinker. I appreciate the research that she did to get things right. I applaud her efforts to introduce readers to foreign concepts. I just found that character development and plot line — what I always consider the greatest strengths of Picoult’s writing — were lost in the mire as she attempted to navigate the two paths of Dawn’s life. I wanted to know more about Wyatt’s past instead of getting a lengthy lecture about the latest technology used in recording hieroglyphics. The character of Brian could have been expanded and explored much more thoroughly. All in all, this book read as though it was a sketch of a great novel that had been delivered to a scientific ghost writer to add details. I learned a lot about archaeology. That was not my goal in reading the novel.
If you are asking for my advice, I recommend that you pick up any other book by Jodi Picoult and leave The Book of Two Ways on the bookstore shelf.
