''Harvesting the Heart'' is the second novel by the American author

Jodi Picoult Jodi Lynn Picoult () is an American writer. Picoult has published 28 novels, accompanying short stories, and has also written several issues of Wonder Woman. Approximately 40 million copies of her books are in print worldwide, translated into 34 ...

. The novel was published in 1993 by

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

. The book has three parts: Conception, Growth, and Delivery.

Synopsis

Paige O'Toole only has a few memories of her mother, who left her when she was five. One of the most vivid memories is of her mother painting winged horses on the ceiling of her childhood home. After Paige grows up, she marries Nicholas and becomes pregnant. She then starts to doubt her own maternal love and ability, because of her history and lack of maternal care and love as a child. After their son Max slips off the couch and gets a nosebleed, she flees and goes on a journey of self-discovery. Paige revisits her childhood home in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and tracks down her mother, now giving children

horseback riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

lessons. On this journey, Paige is able to understand more about her childhood and her mother, prompting her to eventually return home to her husband and child.

Characters

*Paige O'Toole - Protagonist, described as, "sweet and innocent, but... plagued by unanswered questions", has an uncanny ability to sketch a subject's secrets into a portrait *Nicholas Prescott - Harvard medical school graduate, successful cardiac surgeon, and husband of Paige *Max Prescott - Son of Nicholas and Paige, named after his grandmother, May *Astrid Prescott - Nicholas's mother, Paige's

mother-in-law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person is a child-in-la ...

, and Max's grandmother

References

External links

Jodi Picoult's official site
{{Jodi Picoult 1993 American novels Novels by Jodi Picoult Novels set in Chicago