17. Harvesting the heart de Jodi Picoult

Paige has only a few vivid memories of her mother, who left when she was five. Now, having left her father behind in Chicago, she dreams of art school and marries an ambitious doctor - and soon becomes a mother herself. Overwhelmed by the demands of having a family, Paige cannot forget her mother's absence and the shameful memories of her own past, which make her doubt bother her maternal abilities and her sense of self-worth. Out of Paige's struggle to find wholeness, Jodi Picoult crafts with astonishing clarity and evocative detail an absorbing novel that explores issues and emotions we can all relate to.