Dawn Edelstein was working on her graduate degree in Egyptology. She specialized in The Book of Two Ways, a sort of map painted inside the tombs of mummies showing the dead how to get to the afterlife. There are two routes - a land path and a water path.

Her own path changed drastically when she received a phone call that changed her entire life. She had to leave the pyramid in Egypt and return to the US for a family emergency. While home, she meets a grieving man named Brian, falls in love, and finds herself pregnant. She and Brian marry and raise their daughter Meret together. Dawn works as a social worker, which leads her toward becoming a death doula. It's sort of the opposite of a birth doula - someone hired by a dying person to help make them comfortable, help complete a bucket list, assist the dying person's family, or just to be there to hold the hand of someone who has nobody else.

But Dawn is in a plane crash and survives. She knows they say your life flashes before your eyes as you're dying. So why did she see her graduate school love, Wyatt, rather than her husband and daughter? Now Dawn must choose her own path - return to her comfortable life in Boston with her family, or find Wyatt to discover what she missed by leaving Egypt and never returning to finish her degree or her relationship with him.

Jodi Picoult has a way with words that seems so effortless but is deep and meaningful and purposeful. The characters are complicated and multidimensional. The setting seems so realistic that I could practically feel the sweltering Egyptian heat.

Full of complicated choices and relationships, any fan of Picoult will love this novel. I found it interesting that this novel isn't told from alternating viewpoints like many of her stories are. The reader is with Dawn for the entire story but it doesn't feel constrained in any way because there are so many characters with whom she interacts.

My one complaint is that I didn't love the ending. I understand why it ended the way it did, but it wasn't satisfying me as a reader. However, in the acknowledgements she mentions she made a difficult decision to change the ending. I'm very curious to know how it ended before she changed it.

4.5 stars

Dawn is living a normal life in Boston. Her husband is a college professor. Her daughter is getting ready to enter high school. Dawn has a meaningful job as a "death doula", someone who helps people do a variety of tasks to get ready for the ends of their lives. Those tasks may include planning a funeral, organizing finances, or tying up loose ends by helping those dying to say what they need to say or resolve any regrets they may have.

Dawn herself has just one life regret...Wyatt, the man she left in Egypt when she hurried back to the U.S. when her mother became ill and entered hospice. Dawn wonders what her life would be like had she stayed in Egypt. When Dawn experiences something life-threatening, she decides to return to Egypt to find Wyatt to see if she can discover what could have been. Or at least, the reader thinks that's what's happening!

The Book of Two Ways is so cleverly written. You will fall in love with all of the characters, including not just Dawn, but Brian, her husband, Meret, her daughter, Wyatt, her old flame, and Win, her client. This book truly comes full circle with masterful writing by Jodi Picoult.

My only criticism of this book is that I personally thought that too much of the book was about Egyptian history, mythology, etc. A lot of the Egyptian references did not advance the story, and I found myself just skimming over them.

I would recommend this book to any readers who like good storytelling, strong characters, and "a-ha" moments.

3.5 stars rounded down
It is really hard for me to give Picoult anything but a five star review. I adore her writing. I’ve read the majority of her books and enjoyed almost all of them. I was so excited to receive an ARC from NetGalley.
With that disclaimer, this book was disappointing for me. While it had moments of beautiful writing- writing that made stopped me in my tracks-those moments were few and far between. For me, the majority of the book felt like a textbook for an advanced course of Egyptology. The heaviness of that far outshadowed the rest of the story and made it challenging to read. I also struggled with the alternating locations of the chapters. Not only was I having to differentiate between locations but then within chapters the timeframe also shifted. There were many times I had to reorient myself to figure out where and when the characters were.
Ugh the more I write about it, the more issues I have. So I’ll stop. And maybe I’ll go back and read another book of Picoult’s so this won’t be the last impression I’m left with.

4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for my electronic ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published September 22, 2020.

Jodi Picoult is one of a few authors I follow; I will ALWAYS read her latest book. I’ve probably read 10 books by her and they are all vastly different. The common theme is she is an expert story-teller and she does thorough research on whatever topic she chooses.

I’m not particularly interested in Egyptian archeology or the Art of Dying and yet I got sucked in, after a slow start when I thought I’d be buried in historical facts. I quickly learned I was rather fascinated by both topics, which only serve as backdrops to the two love stories that are playing out 15 years apart.

The book raises the question of What If? What role does fate play in our relationships?

My only critique is it ended abruptly without answering a really important question. (No spoilers here).

Original review posted on GoodReads.

This is a difficult book to review. I am an avid Jodi Picoult fan. I think I've read every book she's written, and many of hers would make my list of favorites. As a librarian, I have recommended her books to many, many patrons. Her characters are so real, it's easy to identify with them. Her plots are usually "ripped from the headlines" and focus on realistic situations that would fit easily under the category of "but for the grace of God, go I". Often I'm brought to the edge of tears, if not outright sobbing. There are no easy "happily ever after" endings in most of her books, just like real life.

In this newest addition, all of the above characteristics of a typical Jodi Picoult book are present, except for the current event aspect. Her main character, Dawn, could be almost any mid-life woman struggling with her past and her present. She is believable, vulnerable, and flawed as she deals with an event that throws her life into chaos. This book, however, is (in my opinion) a drastic change for Picoult. The focus of about half the book is on Dawn, her family, and her colleagues & clients. The other half seems to be almost a textbook on Egyptology, quantum physics, and death & dying. There are LONG passages on Egyptian history, religion, & culture & the Pharoahs. There are LONG passages on the theory of multiple universes and theoretical physics. There are also long passages about dealing with death. The narrative shifts back and forth in time and location randomly.

I admit that I could not put this book down. I just had to see what would happen next, and how Picoult would tie all the elements together. Dawn is a puzzling character, dealing with personal issues that elicit empathy, but I lost patience with her failure to deal honestly with them. About halfway through, I found myself skimming much of the science & Egyptology trying to get to the personal interaction between the characters. I do understand the metaphors created by the author, and she does raise some intriguing questions about life, choices, love, family, and death, but this is such a departure for Picoult that I am not sure what audience this book will find. It is unique and obviously very well researched, just not really my cup of tea.

Wow! This an incredible novel and it makes it hard to write a review that does it justice!

Have you ever wondered what if I took this path or that road or met that person years ago? How would my life have changed? Would I still be with the same people as now? Would my life be as it is or would it be dramatically different?
This a story of Dawn Edelstein. She survives a plane crash and in the terrifying moments before the actual crash her life review is not with her husband and daughter, but with her lover in Egypt where she was fifteen years prior when she was intent on becoming an Egyptologist, but left abruptly and has never returned.

Fifteen years later, Dawn is a Death Doula.
She loves her clients, and their families. She steps in to fulfill last wishes, hold hands and to be THAT person with her clients as they exit this life.
Upon a promise that she needs to accomplish for one of her patients, Dawn realizes that she needs to return to Egypt to right the wrongs from years ago and check on Wyatt Armstrong and make amends. Will he remember her?
This is a beautiful, not a light novel on life, death, happiness, caring,heartbreak and how fragile life is.
My favorite quote of this book from Dawn: "i believe that there are five things we need to say to people we love before they die, and I give this advice to caregivers; I forgive you. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. Goodbye."
Definitely a great read and on my top 2020 list.

this was not my favorite book by this author. I felt it was overwritten with too much research which bogged down the actual story. I will not be recommending this one.

I just finished reading "The Book of Two Ways" by Jodi Picoult. I read all of her books and always enjoy them. But this one I LOVED! Right from the start I was pulled into Dawn's story and felt like I was invested in her storyline. At the beginning she is a wife, a mother and a death doula (I had never heard of that profession before and found it fascinating.) She is on a plane and the unexpected occurs. Until the very end of the story I thought this was the twist that changed Dawn's course, but you find out that the twist occurs at a different time. All the characters in the book are intrical to the story and they are all well developed and you understand them all. This is a great book that I would definitely recommend!

It has been a long time since a book has cut me so close to the bone . . . some passages so eerily similar to my own private thoughts, the ones I have bravely scribbled upon the plethora of pages beside my bed.

Stumbling across a raw truth in someone else’s work can feel confrontational, jarring at first and then once settled feels more like a shared intimacy . . . like a clever wink from a friend who knows all of your secrets.

With masterful strokes, Jodi Picoult paints a story as complex and fascinating as the hieroglyphs in the ancient Egyptian tombs she describes.

She excavates and explores relationships, the delicate structures of love that we build throughout our lives . . . and the rooms we meant to finish (on that elusive someday).

Sometimes life gets in the way and changes the design, our blueprint forever altered. Nearing the end of life we begin to ask ourselves . . . Which of those room-like relationships had the best angles? Did we provide enough light to fill up those spaces? The choices we’ve made and the ones that were made for us . . . the contemplation, the multitudes, and wonderment of it all. Incomplete monuments . . . our lives unfinished.

My final thought — We are all broken and beautiful. Sometimes we bind ourselves with fear or place too much focus on endings that we forget to fully live out our story.

The Book of Two Ways is a must-read and has grabbed a special spot in my top twenty.

—I give it all the stars.

This book came into my life when I most needed it. I cannot say why, but the reasons are those that others are, I *know*, experiencing as well. I have always loved Ms. Picoult's stories, they are addictive to read and stay with me, enriching my life by making me look at it differently. This one also made me cry, not just sad tears, but lots of tears, and it will affect me even more than all her others put together.

I started this book without any background of what the story was about. I always enjoy Picoult's books, so reading this book was a no-brainer for me. This book didn't seem to be a typical Picoult book to me, as it included a lot of history and research information. However, I don't think that readers should let that bog them down as they read. I skimmed over some paragraphs of the history, and it didn't impact the story at all.

The book begins with Dawn surviving a plane crash and essentially getting a second chance to determine if she is following the path through life that is right for her. From there, the story moves between her life in Boston with her husband Brian, and her daughter where she works as a death doula, and her life in Egypt where her Egyptologist studies and skills were applied to a research dig alongside her close friend and colleague, Wyatt.

The book is a slower read than I expected, but by the mid-way point, I was not going to put the book down, because I wanted to see which path Dawn followed. Because of a recent trip to Egypt, that portion of the story really drew me in and I was fascinated by the details of the archaeological site and the work they were doing there.

Thank you, Netgalley for offering this wonderful book. As usual, Ms. Picoult has written a book that offers great prose, an intriguing story line and a plot with great twists. I feel some people will hate the ending, but I LOVED it!
I learned a lot about ancient Egyptians and their death rituals and about a most inttersting profession of a death dula. I’ll be thinking about this book for a while!

Oh my gosh, I am so thankful I got an early chance to read The Book of Two Ways - Jodi Picoult is a favorite author of mine, and her latest did not disappoint, even when I'm in the midst of an awful reading slump. I was immediately engaged with the characters and the diverging paths of this story. The Egyptology is so well done and well incorporated, and adds so much to the story that just wouldn't have worked for another book or another author. This novel is rich, engaging, and emotional in all the ways I needed right now.

There's no two ways about it, Jodi Picoult knows how to craft a compelling story. Her extensive research provided framework to visualize Ancient Egypt and interpret hieroglyphs. At times I found it difficult to determine if the story took place in the past or present but love proved to be the ties that bind.

Egyptology is at the center of Dawn's world until a tragic event alters her life's course. Forced to make a split decision, she put aside her dreams to save her family. 'The Book of Two Ways' opens 'Sliding Doors' with a dose of 'The Time Traveler's Wife' serving up a modern-day account of living for the present while honoring the past.

As a death doula, Dawn assists terminal patients to make the most of each day. She provides a beacon of hope for loved ones and allows her charges to die with dignity fulfilling their final wishes.

Winning the patient lottery, Winifred 'Win' Morse is a shinning example of living for the moment. Her bright spirit is damped by remorsefully thinking of her lost love. While Dawn shows Win to let go, her patient teaches Dawn how to live.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the early read in exchange for an honest review. #TheBookofTwoWays reawakened my love of history and learning about other cultures. At times I wanted to get back to the central story and found myself bogged down by historical figures and scientific terms. That being said, they provided a benchmark to measure Dawn and Brian's story and fan the flames of Wyatt's and Olive's affair.

Rating: 3.5/5

Full disclosure, I am a huge Jodi Picoult fan, having read almost everything she has written. So excited to get a chance to read this.
So many themes explored in this book -death (I had never heard the term death doula before), secrets, second chances, body image but the prevailing is choice and the choices we make.
Once again, I really enjoyed the story and was hooked from the beginning. I did feel it bogged down a bit during some of the Egyptology information however I learned so much.
Great read.
"And who would you be, if you hadn’t turned out to be the person you are right now"?

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Ballentine Books for sharing this ARC.

Another gem from Jodi Picoult. As always, a first purchase title for all general fiction collections.

Hmmm… you see the alarming bell which warns you there is an unpopular review is about to come and of course I never expected it’s happening because I just finished a compelling novel of one of my all-time favorite authors. And as soon as I read the blurb about second chances, the Sliding Door/what ifs theme and amazing journey to learn more about Ancient Egyptian culture, I started to whistle Bangles’ song and getting so excited about this promising adventure.

But as soon as I started flipping pages after the mind blowing start reminded of us Lost series’ beginning, Dawn Edelstein’ thankfully survives from the plane crash, my excitement hit to the roof! I wanted to see what was gonna happen next: After the imminent shock and her entire life flashed before her eyes, Dawn realizes there are things holding her back to have fulfilled life. And there are two paths appear in front of her: she may go back to her family life: husband she’s been married for 15 years and her 14 years old teenage girl. And of course her work at hospice as death doula is waiting for her. (Interesting choice of profession) Or she goes to Egypt and finishes her project she’s started 15 years ago when she has been working as an archaeologist but that means she has to meet with her first love of her life: Wyatt.

So we read her two paths and we also learn more about Dawn’s story starting 15 years ago in Egypt by flashbacks. And interestingly two paths successfully intertwine. I have no problem about the promising premise of the book about taking your chances, learning from your mistakes and leaving no place for your regrets.

BUT… Yes the problematic thing about this book: there is so much information bombardment exhaust your brain cells. Quantum psychics, philosophical approach to life and death, reincarnation, superstition , Egyptology, marriage, fat-shaming etc.

It seem like the author juggled way too much plot balls at the same time and all of them start to fall down from her hands one by one. Especially I truly got lost at the Egyptology parts with all those hieroglyphs, symbolism, secret language hidden at the tombs, digital mapping, nope I’m stopping there. After reading those parts and scientific explanations Brian’s husband gave her about quantum psychics (couldn’t she marry with a man who has regular job?) I thought my mind was so close to explode.

There are so many materials in this book were hard to absorb and all those details made you feel like this a study book you have to read by drawing its lines to pass your exam instead a regular, gripping contemporary fiction. The author may write at least 4 different books with those materials. But instead of that she chose to insert them into one story and I truly got so exhausted and needed more grey cells transplant because I truly fried most of them by over usage.

I loved the family parts, impossible and meanest love-triangle of the story ( it’s so mean because any choice Dawn makes may end with unhappiness!) mother-daughter relationship and of course her profession as “death doula” at hospice was one of the most heartfelt, eerie but also interesting part that attracted my full attention.
But I think those Egypt parts, symbolism, quantum psychics just killed the essence of this meaningful story.
When you add too much scientific information into the equation, it affects the intensity of meaningful messages and emotional warmth of the story. But this is my opinion. There is nothing missing about this story. In fact there are too many things to absorb, understand, discover, feel, learn, and search so eventually they overwhelmed me.

Overall: I loved the characters. I loved the idea of second chances, choosing different paths. I loved the devoted love between mother and daughter. But those scientific parts of the book failed me. I love Jodi Picoult’s brave writing style and play with our emotions to shake us to the core. But this time I decided to give only three stars. That’s a first for me, too. It doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the book. The emotional parts of the story completely worked with my needs but the informational parts were exhausting and confusing. They were still impeccably written but in my opinion, they didn’t fit so well with the main plot.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Ballentine Books for sharing this ARC with me in exchange my honest opinions and review.

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both..." [Robert Frost] But, what if you could? Travel both? What if you could try out one path, and then later try out the other? "How can you even put into words the confession that you made a mistake, that you want to turn back time and try again?" Few of us are given this opportunity. But a freak airplane crash gives Dawn this chance. To leave behind her work as a death doula, her marriage and her child, safety and security, and head again for Egypt where her heart is, and where she can be the archaeologist that she has always felt she should be, and focus on The Book of Two Ways, the first known map of the ancient Egyptian afterlife.

Husband, Brian. Daughter, Meret [Meretseger -- She Who Loves Silence]. Brother, Kieran. Lover and Egyptologist, Wyatt Armstrong. Death doula and Egyptologist, Dawn McDowell Edelstein.

This thought-provoking novel deals in death. And dying. And the afterlife. And the laws of Quantum Mechanics that show parallel timelines with multiple lives and different, concrete outcomes -- "if something terrible happens to you, there would still be another version of you somewhere else. A version that realizes how lucky you are to have a second chance." Beginnings and Endings. Real life issues: an overweight teen, a perceived cheating husband, a gay brother, and a DNA test. Life, and how to live it. Death and how not fear it. The ways leading a good life leads to a good death.

Come with Jodi Picoult on Dawn's journey of self-examination, a difficult journey but not an impossible one. A journey that will take you through The Hall of Two Truths and The Book of Going Forth by Day, and in the end will deposit you just where you belong.

I read this EARC courtesy of Ballantine Books/Random House and NetGalley pub date 09/22/20

Dawn Edelstein had her career mapped out. She was a doctoral candidate in Egyptology at Yale.. Until she wasn’t. A call from her mother changed everything. Her mother is dying and needs her. So she returns home and her life changes. She becomes guardian to her young brother, marries, and is a mother. She shifts her career to be a death doula. But a brush with death causes her to examine the choices she’s made.

This story is about second chances and the road not taken. Did life lead you to a fork in the road? What if you made a different choice? What would your life be like?

Jodi Picoult takes an unflinching look at how people can be swept up by emotion leading to a life different than expected. She explores whether you can be happy in the change or course correct and be happy anew.

There is deep emotional turmoil through this well written tale. A bonus is the explanation of Dawn’s work in Egyptology. This is not the glamour of King Tut, this is the dirty and gritty search to understand an ancient civilization. By her graphic examples, Picoult adds an even richer element to an already stirring story. The description of Egypt in the summer is so vivid you will need a cold drink!

This is an outstanding book full of surprises and absorbing enough to keep you focused on the outcome until you turn the last page.

I usually can not wait for Jodi Piccoult books to come out. If I wanted to sign up for a master class on Egypt I would have. This was to way to much, and wanted to get to the story. This book should have been edited better, very disappointed but thank you net galley.