Vanishing Acts: Summary and book reviews of Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult, plus links to an excerpt from Vanishing Acts and a biography of Jodi Picoult.

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her ability to tap into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she explores what happens when a young woman's past -- a past she didn't even know she had -- catches up to her just in time to threaten her future. Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her widowed father, Andrew, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiancé, and her own search-and-rescue bloodhound, which she uses to find missing persons. But as Delia plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can't recall. And then a policeman knocks on her door, revealing a secret that changes the world as she knows it. In shock and confusion, Delia must sift through the truth -- even when it jeopardizes her life and the lives of those she loves. What happens when you learn you are not who you thought you were? When the people you've loved and trusted suddenly change before your eyes? When getting your deepest wish means giving up what you've always taken for granted? Vanishing Acts explores how life -- as we know it -- might not turn out the way we imagined; how doing the right thing could mean doing the wrong thing; how the memory we thought had vanished could return as a threat. Once again, Jodi Picoult handles a difficult and timely topic with understanding, insight, and compassion.

Media Reviews

New York Times - Janet Maslin ''Vanishing Acts'' is too busy to be tightly focused. And its main event, delivery of the bombshell about Delia's past, arrives so early in the story that it renders the rest anticlimactic.   The Boston Globe - Karen Campbell "Vanishing Acts" is richly textured and engaging, and there are a few twists and turns that keep the plot from being too predictable. But ultimately, "Vanishing Acts" is about the elusive nature of memory. "Memories are like a still life painted by ten different student artists: some will be blue-based; others red; some will be as stark as Picasso and others as rich as Rembrandt; some will be foreshortened and others distant. Recollections are in the eye of the beholder; no two held up side by side will ever quite match."   Rocky Mountain News - Amy Stoll Extraordinarily detailed, Picoult's exhaustive work fills Vanishing Acts to the brim with realistic suspense, suggesting that often what we choose to remember doesn't astound us nearly as much as what we choose to forget.   Publishers Weekly Picoult weaves together plot and characterization in a landscape that is fleshed out in rich, journalistic detail, so that readers will come away with intriguing questions rather than pat answers.   Kirkus Reviews An experienced novelist takes her sweet time to rich rewards: overall, an affecting saga, nicely handled.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by Sandy
Close to home
Only close to home because of the alcoholics in the family, and the fact that a child doesn't always have protection...we remember some things, but what do we really remember? The book hooked me from the start, and I have to say I am relieved at...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Alyssa
Jodi Picoult's
Best-selling author Jodi Picoult has written a number of novels with intricate plots and deep characters. Her story-lines are emotional and dive into controversial issues that are happening in today‘s world. I had the pleasure of reading two of...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Whitney
Vanishing Acts
A great book. I Loved the subject matter--a Father kidnapping his own daughter to protect her from an abusive mother. As in all her books Jodi Picoult picks topics that make you think and question what is morally right, and Vanishing Acts is no...   Read More

Rated of 5 by Christina
Excellent
I highly reccomend this book, as well as every other Jodi Picoult novel. She truly has a gift for writing. This is a wonderful, and very touching story of a father/daughter relationship... What do you do when your whole existence is based...   Read More

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