In this novel, Jodi Picoult interweaves five rich
narrative voices to tell a story of love, loss, and self-
discovery. The voices belong to a mother, her daughter, and
three very different men.
Jane had always lived in somebody's shadow. Escaping a
childhood of abuse by marrying oceanographer Oliver Jones,
she finds herself taking second place to his increasingly
successful career. However, when her daughter Rebecca is
slighted, Jane's dramatic stand takes them all by surprise.
Leaving Oliver and his whale tapes behind in San Diego,
Jane and Rebecca set out to drive across America to Uncle
Joley and the sanctuary of the Massachusetts apple orchard
where he works. Joley directs Jane across the United States
in a series of letters waiting for her in designated post
offices. Each letter gives concise directions to the next
post office; each letter provides Jane with a chance to
reflect on her forgotten past.
Oliver, used to tracking male humpback whales across vast
oceans, now has the task of tracking his tantalizingly
unpredictable wife across a continent. To do so he must
learn to see the world-- and even himself-- through her
eyes.
Songs of the Humpback Whale is a powerful and
sensitive novel of family life that questions how songs are
passed down from male speaker to male speaker, but also
examines the female tradition of listening that women
unconsciously pass on to their daughters.
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