The Book of Two Ways: A Novel

Name: The Book of Two Ways: A Novel
SKU: 110193
Availability: InStock

4.1 | 22,164 ratings

Price: 19.69

Last update: 12-09-2024

About this item

Number one New York Times best seller

From the author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light comes a “powerful” (The Washington Post) novel about the choices that alter the course of our lives.

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, their beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula, in which she helps ease the transition between life and death for her clients. But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a career Dawn 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 that the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers transportation to wherever they want to go. The obvious destination is to fly home, but she could take another path: 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 with 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?

Kelley

worth reading more than once

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2023

I read this first before my mother died. She was suffering a long, brutal illness and when I started it I gave her a copy and we read them together across the miles. I remember being simultaneously transfixed and skewered; we had talked endlessly about the death she wanted but here was a book addressing all the same issues—PLUS an Ancient Egyptian plot line AND two romances AND an Irish twist. It was too real to read but I couldn’t put it down. In retrospect, the bravest reader was really my mom. A series of coincidences led me to re-read it now, nearly two years after I sat with her while she died, and the power of it came right back and smacked me in the heart. I couldn’t pause—I read it straight through. I loved it even more the second time, and I think as I continue to age and experience more death (and practice seeing the beauty in it) I will repeatedly earn myself a re-read. It’s a fantastic book with no shortage of glorious eye-opening moments that keep on giving. Thanks for writing this.

Laurel-Rain Snow

ROADS NOT TAKEN...

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2021

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 of 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, their beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula, in which she helps ease the transition between life and death for her clients.

But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a career Dawn 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 that the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers transportation to wherever they want to go. The obvious destination is to fly home, but she could take another path: 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 with 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?

My Thoughts: Immediately we are thrust into the past for Dawn Edelstein, in The Book of Two Ways. She returns to the past as she revisits the Egyptian site where she first felt the passion of studying burial sites with Wyatt Armstrong. Back in Boston, her husband Brian waits, not understanding what has happened. And her daughter Meret is struggling.

I could relate to the need to explore unfinished journeys, and even the road not taken. But is Dawn risking her present life for one that might have been?

The story flips between the past and the present, and I soon found myself not enjoying the journey into the past and wishing Dawn would stay focused on what she has in the here and now. Like this moment she experiences with a client who is dying: “Her portrait of death lives in shadows. It’s midnight blue and dusky violet and violent black, but if you stare at it hard enough, you can make out two faint profiles, a breath apart, unable to complete that kiss for eternity.”

But in parallel universes, we watch the characters flash back and forth, and the destinies that unfold are fascinating. We are kept on tenterhooks, wondering what will finally happen for them. While I often found myself preferring parts of the story more than others, in the end I couldn’t stop pushing through to the ultimate answers that might take the characters to places they should be.

A book that held me captive until the end, I soon forgot about the parts I didn’t like much…and concluded that the work was unforgettable and had earned 4.5 stars.

J. M. Ponticello

captivating characters

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2023

Though the storyline could be sometimes confusing, I do believe that is intentional. The overall story is compelling and heartrending. I tried to read it slowly in order to make it last, but I simply could not put it down. We are drawn into the lives of every character and find ourselves Caring what happens to them. A beautiful book.
As an aside, I love that while I have read several books by Jodi Picoult, she is not a “formula” writer and every book is extraordinarily well researched and unique.

FrequentShopper

Clunky and Disappointing Ending

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2020

I'll add to the many reviews that I agree with - while this was still an enjoyable read by a prolific author, it isn't one of Picoult's best.
One of my favorite things about a Jodi Picoult book is that I feel like I'm learning something about a topic (wolves, elephants, court proceedings, etc.) in the construct of a great story. Her stories are also nuanced and twisty, so you find yourself truly empathizing with all sides of an issue.
Egypt:
However, this book really laid the Egypt stuff on thick. I thought the quantum physics and death doula topics were the normal level of "learning something new" but, as other reviews have stated, there is way, way too much Egypt info. Facts are dumped into pages and you eventually realize they don't move the plot forward, so you start skipping them over. If you get the concept of multiple paths and weighing your heart, then skip the Egypt lessons in the book.
Characters:
While Picoult does a great job of presenting complicated characters with big flaws, I've always liked the main character. However, Dawn was unlikable. Her decisions don't make sense and she actually seemed like the least built out character. Most of her inner thoughts are the Egypt, doula, physics lessons rather than the motivation for why she makes such terrible decisions.
Also, as other readers have said, Brian and Wyatt are both way too perfect. The Brian/Gita thing felt like a weird, red herring if Win was going to be the catalyst for Dawn to go find Wyatt.
Plot:
I kind of liked the format. I did wonder "what's the deal with the plane crash?" for most of the book, but I believed we were in Dawn's two alternate universes, flipping back and forth, and I liked how that came together as one story line. However, it wasn't as subtly brilliant as Picoult's plot twists usually are. Finally, as others have mentioned, the ending is really bad. It was rushed and there was, what felt like, a lazy cliffhanger. She was obviously going to choose Wyatt but there was some half-hearted attempt for Brian to win her back. It was poorly-written and rushed; I would rather Dawn had been killed off in the plane crash.

If you are a Picoult fan and read all of her books, still give this one a go, but maybe wait until it's out in paperback or in the Kindle Lending Library.

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