The Book of Two Ways

I own quite a few of Jodi Picoult's books so when The Book of Two Ways came out, I knew I had to have it on my shelf, sitting beside some of my favourites - namely The Storyteller and Small Great Things.

The Book of Two Ways was an interesting, but a bit of an overwhelming read at times. It is abundantly clear that Picoult dove into her Egyptian research, even traveling to the country for better insight. But there are several parts of the book where so many Egyptian facts are included that it gave the book a textbook feel. I have read a few books set in Egypt (including Michelle Moran's Egyptian Royals series) and hung out enough at the Royal Ontario Museum's Egypt exhibition over the years that I felt I had some very basic ideas of the hierarchy and Egyptology. So, I wasn't going in totally blind. But, at times, the amount of detail given was too much and took me out of the contemporary story about the messy relationships between Dawn, Wyatt and Brian. And when you add in Brian's descriptions of quantum physics (which to-ta-lly went over my head) there was too much info and not enough fiction.

Reading this book was a rollercoaster for me - parts I loved and others I found frustrating, but I appreciate the immense amount of work that went into such a detailed story. I also enjoyed being introduced to the profession of death doulas and thought the bits of humour were a great addition to provide some levity in this story that focuses on a complex group of relationships and a whole lotta history. 

This was a good read but not quite the wow book I was expecting. I'm glad I read it but I think there's just too much going on and the story got a bit lost in the details. At its heart (dead Pharaohs excluded), this is a story about relationships, taking chances and regrets for opportunities that were not taken. 

My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Jodi Picoult

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Type and Source: Hardcover, personal copy

Pages: 416

Publisher: Ballantine

First Published: Sept 22, 2020

Opening Line: My calendar is full of dead people.

Book Description from GoodReads: 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 patients in hospice.

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?