Dawn is one of 36 survivors in a plane crash. When she's asked 'can we fly you anywhere?', she has a decision to make. Does she return to her life in Boston or return to Egypt where she left unfinished business over fifteen years ago.

The Book Of Two Ways is a stunning novel that kept me guessing and gasping until the end. Jodi manages to take you on a journey of first love, what ifs and death that keeps you gripped all the way through. I was desperately rooting for Dawn to finish what she started in Egypt. The twists and turns in this novel had me going right back to the start to read it again. Extraordinary!

As always Jodi Picoult has researched her topics in depth and that is clearly evident in her latest book, ‘The Book of Two Ways’ – here we have a story about a death doula named Dawn who experiences her own brush with death and if faced with the ultimate ‘What if… ?’ decision.

At the time of the crash, Dawn is on a work trip which has the benefit of providing her with some time away from her beloved husband and daughter. I say ‘beloved’ as Dawn does clearly love Brian, their relationship is currently suffering and they both need to work out how to support each other.
When the airline offers, all survivors a free flight, Dawn opts to have the chance to follow the life and dreams that she abandoned she many years ago in Egypt – the ‘sliding doors’ scenario.
I gather that many reviewers disliked the sections of the story set in Egypt with Wyatt due to the many of exposition devoted to Egyptology. However as a former history student, this is one of my favourite aspects of the book. I loved learning about the Rosetta Stone, hieroglyphs and how Wyatt learned to translate those hieroglyphs, along with the facts of genuine expeditions. As the history of Egypt serves as both a background to the relationship between Wyatt and Dawn, along with revealing aspects of their individual characters, it is difficult to skip over any such sections of the book, so I would not recommend this book if you are not a history fan. However, for anyone who enjoys a love story, or the opportunity to learn then this book is an absolute must.

Read it and enjoy.
Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine for the ARC is return for an honest review.

I really wanted to enjoy this book - on the surface it has so many things I enjoy reading about: Egypt, romance, family, life/death. But I think this book was just trying to achieve too much with the dual story lines of experiences as a death doula, Egypt setting and family setting. I wish there had been more of the flight as this is what made me think it was going to be a really gripping read. The Egyptology, archaeology and physics section read a little like a textbook, and made it quite dull to read through. I don't think the level of detail gone into in the length of some of the passages was necessary to progress the story.

This is very different from Picoults usual books. It had a great deal of information about Ancient Egypt and I felt there was a small bit of information overload, I thought it was good just not up to the usual standards from Picoult.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for a digital copy of this book. I haven’t read a Jodi Picoult book in some time and was really looking forward to this one. Dawn almost dies in a plane crash and the near death experience leaves her questioning the choices she has made in her life. As a death doula she helps many people prepare for their death and make peace with their life but Dawn is conflicted about her own. Significant relationships with her mother and brother, her daughter and the two men in her life are placed under the microscope. Two endings are contemplated - Egypt and excavation with Wyatt or Boston with Brian and her daughter. There’s a lot to like in this book - the considerable discussion of death is neither macabre or maudlin, rather very peaceful, as Dawn helps her clients to find ‘a way to leave a shadow in the world, even when you’re not in it’. Dawn’s relationship with her teenage daughter, Meret, is beautifully observed as Dawn tries to help her be big in a thin world. The chemistry between Dawn and both men is vividly realised, as is the conflict she feels in trying to choose between them. Like other readers I struggled with the long passages about Egyptology - I felt a little stressed in trying to absorb all the information presented as though I might not understand the story without it. There are several stories within this book and some clever twists but for me too many for an entirely smooth read.

WOW!! I really enjoyed and loved reading this book which took me all the way to Egypt. It is about love, life and death, weaved with Egyptology and Egyptian history with a dash of physics. Along with a love story, it explores complex human emotions and unravel multiple layers of life which gets affected by the choices we make. The author describes the fragility of life and beauty of death. I, particularly, found this part very insightful. The plot is well-researched and quite rich with details that makes the writing extremely lively but because of the same it may not interest to readers who are not into history or architectural details. But if you’re even a little bit interested in either of them, I would highly recommend this book to read.
Many thanks to Jodi Picoult for bringing Dawn and Wyatt (even though they’re imaginary) into our lives. And I’m grateful to Hodder and stoughton and Netgalley for providing an ARC to review. Thank you!

Thank you to Netgalley, Hodder &.Stoughton and Jodi Picoult for this advanced reader's copy in return for my honest review. Even though I've loads on my TBR pile as soon as I received this ARC, I.dived straight in. To say that I'm a massive Jodi Picoult fan is an understatement. Although different from a lot of her other books which focus on a moral issue, this book was enjoyable, well written and well researched. It took me back to the days of Songs of the Humpback Whale, which in itself was a beautiful book.

This is a good Jodi Picoult book. I liked the fact that it wasn’t based around a big topic. The ending was fairly predictable but I enjoyed how all the story lines interwove.

Jodi Picoult's latest novel is a fascinating exploration of life, love, Egyptology and Egyptian history, and Physics, regrets and wondering how life might have turned out if different life choices had been made. It has some commonalities with a book I recently read, Matt Haig's The Midnight Library, such as what makes life worth living, what really matters, and the need to focus on living, as life is short. Fortunately, reading this book was made easier as I already had an interest and some familiarity with Egyptology and the aspects of Physics which Picoult goes into some detail in the book with her indepth research, without this, I can imagine many readers finding this a much more frustrating experience.

It begins with Dawn Edelstein, living in Boston, married to Brian with a beloved daughter, Meret, on a plane that is plummeting, and her thoughts are not on the life she has, but drifting back to her past as an Egyptologist, and Wyatt Armstrong, a life that was torn asunder when a dying mother and family responsibilities claimed her instead. Fortunately, Dawn survives, and the narrative shifts locations and time to go down two possible paths for Dawn, and the ancient Egyptian beliefs and text of The Book of Two Ways on the path towards reaching the afterlife. She is beset with regrets on the one hand and what could have been with Wyatt, and a marriage which is under pressure, raising the issues of what constitutes a 'love affair' and infidelity. Dawn works as a death doula, helping her terminal clients prepare for death with compassion and love, and supporting grieving families, clients such as Win, whose issues resonate so strongly with Dawn too.

Picoult writes of the complexities of being human, the choices we make, the people that matter in her story of life, love and death, and extolling the need to live life now through her central protagonist, Dawn. She excels in her characterisation of Dawn and the painful, messy complications that life so often comprises of, with her reflections on what could have been, her sense of identity and who exactly she is. This is richly descriptive and heavily detailed, multilayered storytelling, thoughtful, insightful and well written on life's deepest questions but will not be for everyone. An emotionally satisfying and touching novel that I recommend highly to others. Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.

Jodi picoult usually delivers such excellent books with legal twists and a battle in the courtroom.
I was in so much anticipation of this book having read all of her other novels and not disliking one

Unfortunately this book did not read like a Jodi picoult novel. It was a textbook about ancient Egypt. There was far too much informative information for this to read as a novel.

I had to reread the pages a couple of times to try and see what the book and storyline was about as all I could focus on was the mummies and the history lesson