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For the readership that missed the initial release of Jodi Picoult's debut novel, SONGS OF THE HUMPBACK WHALE, the reappearance of the appealing novel in smaller paperback format should prove very welcome. While Picoult's later books see her entry into the realms of crime fiction, this, her first novel, is entirely within the human relationship/romantic genre. Even her more recent works concentrate on family values but this primary effort devotes itself to that well-spring. Oliver Jones is a marine biologist. He fell in love with his future wife, Jane, when she was 15 and he was 20. Oliver becomes increasingly absorbed with his work (although the fact that he delayed his honeymoon because of his work could perhaps be seen as a portent of things to come) and less and less tolerant of his family's intrusion into it. When their daughter Rebecca was three years old, Oliver hit Jane, bringing back memories of her abusive father and her dreadful childhood. Jane fled, taking Rebecca with her, but when Oliver threatened her with the FBI she attempted to return Rebecca by plane to her father. The plane crashed and Rebecca was one of the few survivors. In 1990 Rebecca is 15 and, in an altercation directly caused by Oliver's increasing absorption in his work, her mother hits her father. Horrified by her action which recalls to mind her father's abuse, causing her to wonder just how much she takes after him, Jane once more flees, this time to her brother Joley who lives in Massachusetts. She takes Jane with her. The book could well be categorised as a road novel. A great chunk of it is devoted to the women's journey from San Diego across the United States, 3000 miles (not by the most direct route) to Massachusetts. The narrative is told in the first person from the points of view of most of the protagonists. The time frame jumps around: at one stage it is when Rebecca and Jane are in Massachusetts and Hadley has already died, again, it is before they have left San Diego. Despite this, the overall picture is smooth rather than jagged. The reader knows from the beginning that Rebecca has found true love despite her youth and with a man ten years her senior -- the same age as the man with whom her mother falls in love. It becomes obvious that Joley, too, is in love with his sister. This is why he has never married. The sister who protected him from their awful father is now to be protected by him. He sends her a series of letters to the places along the route which he thinks she should take in order to get from San Diego to the apple farm, owned by Sam Hansen, in Massachusetts. The series of adventures encountered by the women along the way change both of them. All the while, their story is recounted against the refrain of the songs of the humpbacked whale, the creature upon whom the reputation of Oliver Jones has been built. Whatever one may believe about the tenets upon which the narrative is based, the story is compelling. The characters are extremely well drawn and one voice cannot be mistaken for another. To emphasise the difference, the various parts are written in different fonts. Even the most hard-bitten fan of the crime fiction genre could not withstand the charm of this first novel. Should readers have been enchanted by Picoult's later crime fiction novels, by all means read this book without any danger of disappointment.
Reviewed by Denise Wels Pickles, January 2004
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