Winter Read: The Almost Moon~Alice Sebold

Synopsis
"When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily."
So begins The Almost Moon, Alice Sebold's astonishing, brilliant, and daring new novel. A woman steps over the line into the unthinkable in this unforgettable work by the author of The Lovely Bones and Lucky.
For years Helen Knightly has given her life to others: to her haunted mother, to her enigmatic father, to her husband and now grown children. When she finally crosses a terrible boundary, her life comes rushing in at her in a way she never could have imagined.
Unfolding over the next twenty-four hours, this searing, fast-paced novel explores the complex ties between mothers and daughters, wives and lovers; the meaning of devotion; and the line between love and hate. It is a challenging, moving, gripping story, written with the fluidity and strength of voice that only Alice Sebold can bring to the page.

Winter Read: Harvesting the Heart~ Jodi Picoult

This is my first time reading Jodi Picoult, and I absolutely LOVE this book. With work and all, I have been reading everyday for the last week (could have finished this weekend but had other things to do).

Synopsis

Harvesting the Heart explores the story of a young woman overcome by the demands of having a family. Written with astonishing clarity and evocative detail, convincing in its depiction of emotional pain, love and vulnerability, Harvesting the Heart recalls the writing of Alice Hoffman and Sue Miller.

Paige has only a few vivid memories of her mother, who left when she was five. Now, having left her father behind in Chicago for dreams of art school and marriage to an ambitious young doctor, she finds herself with a child of her own. But her mother's absence, and shameful memories of her past, make her doubt both her maternal ability and her sense of self-worth.
Out of Paige's struggle to find wholeness by searching for her mother and, eventually, returning to be a mother, Jodi Picoult crafts an absorbing novel peopled by richly drawn characters. Any mother—or child—cannot help but to relate to the issues and emotions explored within this book.