Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult

 

I found this to be an incredible novel tracing the decisions of mothers and daughters and how broken links can often be repaired. At the center of the story  is postpartum psychosis, a mental illness that rarely but does affect women. It is what drove Eloise Ambrose to abandon her two month old daughter and disappear, seemingly lost in the rubble of the twin towers disaster. The story traces her life, the life of her daughter, and the events of her daughter’s husband as the story unfolds.

True to the topics Ms Picoult often chooses, postpartum psychosis is not widely known, even though it is devastating to its victims. Please do not skip the author’s note as it contains valuable information as well as how she developed the story.

God's Country by William Kent Krueger

 

On the onset, I admit that I am a fan of this author. His Cork O’Connor mysteries are fabulous. They include such interesting information on Native American lore and language. In this novel, the O’Connor men with one young son along with their friend and his son embark on a  canoe trip through lakes in Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of northern Minnesota. His son and grandson have had similar visions about Cork that unsettle him and might point to a heart problem. As the trip begins, criminal activity begins to be apparent. Cork sends the rest of his party home as he searches for a friend canoe guide in the wilderness. A sinister pair of brothers are causing mayhem involving murder, beatings, and danger. Cork begins a journey of a man grappling with his inner demons as the danger increases.