Vanishing Acts

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Vanishing Acts
Vanishing Acts.jpg
First edition
Author Jodi Picoult
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Family saga novel
Publisher Atria Books
Publication date
2005
Pages418
ISBN 9780743267649
OCLC 56617337

Vanishing Acts (2005) is the twelfth novel by the American author Jodi Picoult. [1] [2] [3] The novel is set in rural New Hampshire, and the story focuses on Delia Hopkins, a missing persons' investigator, and her family, including her young daughter, Sophie, her widowed father, Andrew, and her search and rescue bloodhound, Greta.

Contents

Plot

Delia Hopkins is a missing persons' investigator, who lives in New Hampshire with her widowed father Andrew and her young daughter Sophie. Delia works with her own search-and-rescue bloodhound to find missing people. Delia is on the verge of marrying Eric, a friend since childhood. Suddenly, she learns that her father has been arrested for her kidnapping as a young child. [4]

Narrative style

Vanishing Acts is narrated through the perspective of five characters, including Delia, Eric, Andrew, and Fitz. Additionally, each character's chapter is given a different font. In the alternating narrative technique each character takes turns narrating events that are unfolding in their lives. Picoult frequently employs this alternating narrative style in her writing, including in My Sister's Keeper, House Rules, Songs of the Humpback Whale, Change of Heart, Handle With Care, Sing You Home, Lone Wolf, and The Storyteller.

Related Research Articles

Storyteller, story teller, or story-teller may refer to:

Susan Howatch is a British author. Her writing career has been distinguished by family saga-type novels that describe the lives of related characters for long periods of time. Her later books have also become known for their religious and philosophical themes.

A frame story is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either for a more emphasized second narrative or for a set of shorter stories. The frame story leads readers from a first story into one or more other stories within it. The frame story may also be used to inform readers about aspects of the secondary narrative(s) that may otherwise be hard to understand. This should not be confused with narrative structure. A notable example is The Decameron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jodi Picoult</span> American author

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Nineteen Minutes (2007) is the fourteenth novel by the American author Jodi Picoult. It was Picoult's first book to debut at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. This novel follows the unfolding of a school shooting, including the events leading up to the incident and the aftermath of the incident. This book is from Josie's point of view because Peter dies before the ending.

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<i>Lone Wolf</i> (Picoult novel) 2012 novel by Jodi Picoult

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Small Great Things (2016) is the twenty-fifth novel by American author Jodi Picoult. The book focuses on race in America and revolves around the protagonist, a delivery nurse, named Ruth Jefferson. Small Great Things is being adapted into a film starring Viola Davis and Julia Roberts. This is Picoult's first novel with an African American protagonist.

<i>Leaving Time</i> 2014 novel by Jodi Picoult

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References

  1. Maslin, Janet (2005-02-24). "A Rescuer Retrieves Her Own Lost Past" . The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  2. Harris, Michael (2005-03-01). "In 'Vanishing Acts,' a story that isn't all it appears" . Los Angeles Times . ISSN   2165-1736. OCLC   3638237. Archived from the original on 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  3. "Vanishing Acts". Publishers Weekly . 2005-02-07. ISSN   0000-0019. Archived from the original on 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  4. "Vanishing Acts". Jodi Picoult . Archived from the original on 2021-08-12. Retrieved 2020-06-30.