book review the book of two ways

clock This article was published more than  3 years ago

In ‘The Book of Two Ways,’ Jodi Picoult delivers another powerful story about heart-wrenching moral choices

In the mood to contemplate your own mortality? Then Jodi Picoult has the book for you.

The best-selling author’s latest offering, “ The Book of Two Ways ,” follows Dawn Edelstein, a former Yale Egyptology student turned death doula. In Dawn’s orbit there’s a whole lot of death, starting with Win, the dying woman she’s caring for, the memories of those Dawn lost and the very, very deceased (as in mummified in Middle Egypt 4,000 years ago).

In short, if you are looking for comic relief, you are out of luck. But readers don’t pick up Picoult for the LOLs. Instead, they come for the heart-wrenching moral choices, the complicated family dynamics, the deep dive into ethical issues, and, lately, the nonlinear plots. Picoult’s last book, “ A Spark of Light ,” told the story backward; “The Book of Two Ways” presents two possible timelines and settings: Land/Egypt and Water/Boston. This is an homage to an ancient Egyptian coffin text also called “The Book of Two Ways,” which contains one of the first known maps of the underworld. While the ancient Egyptians believed that one could get to the afterlife either by land or water, Picoult’s book is not “choose your own adventure.” Instead, timelines occur simultaneously (think “ Sliding Doors ” but without Gwyneth Paltrow’s iconic hairdo).

‘Small Great Things’ is the most important novel Jodi Picoult has ever written

When we’re introduced to Dawn, she boards a plane that soon begins to “fall out of the sky.” As it goes vertical, she contemplates that “Ancient Egyptians believed that to get to the afterlife, they had to be deemed innocent in the Judgement Hall. Their hearts were weighed against the feather of Ma’at, of truth.” She’s not sure her heart will pass the test. Her guilt stems from her thinking not of her steady quantum mechanics professor husband, Brian, but of Wyatt Armstrong, a British Egyptologist whom she hasn’t seen in 15 years. In what could be her final moment, she’s grasping for another man, for the Egypt she left behind and the dissertation she never finished.

That’s when the path breaks into two.

Option 1: Dawn is a brilliant graduate student at Yale, an expert in “The Book of Two Ways.” All is going as planned, including taking part in a dig in Egypt with Wyatt, when news that her mother is dying puts everything on hold. Turns out, that hold is going to be a long one. Stateside, Dawn meets Brian and soon after, Dawn and Brian meet marriage and a baby. Dawn pivots from the long dead to the dying, becoming a death doula, a job she’s devoted to, especially with new patient Win, who is trying to answer what-might-have-beens before she passes. Win’s journey inspires Dawn to question her own lost loves: Wyatt and Egypt.

Option 2: When the airline offers up their mea culpa to survivors of the crash in the form of a plane ticket, Dawn asks not for a one-way home, but a ticket to Cairo, knowing Wyatt is in Egypt, still digging, now making a name for himself, and perhaps still thinking about her.

It sounds simple enough, but it’s not. Picoult weaves us around, at times not clarifying which story line we’re in. Some readers may find the ambiguity frustrating, others may enjoy trying to figure out Dawn’s path.

More book reviews and recommendations

While there’s ambiguity in the story, there’s none regarding Picoult’s passion for Egyptology. After 26 novels she is a master researcher, but she’s also usually a master of weaving in information without letting it slow the pacing. Not this time. She knows her stuff, but she’s showing readers her 200 best vacation pictures instead of 20. As a result, the history can feel heavier than a sarcophagus.

That heaviness aside, “The Book of Two Ways” is a return for Picoult to the themes of her earliest books — motherhood, complicated romantic love — when she did not build tension in a courtroom or hospital. Picoult, at this point in her career could skillfully build tension in a broom closet, but the best part of this book is not the suspense; it’s the look at the complexity of a woman as she enters middle age. When Win muses that, “women don’t get to have midlife crises where they run off to find themselves,” Dawn instinctively knows she’s right. “Men leave their wives and children behind every day, and no one is shocked,” she thinks. “It’s as if that Y chromosome they hold entitles them to self-discovery, to reinvention.” But Picoult allows her protagonist to have both, and that backward reflection and forward glance lift the narrative, reminding fans that Picoult always tells both sides of a story not with judgment, but with grace.

Karin Tanabe  is the author of five books, including, most recently, “A Hundred Suns.”

The Book of Two Ways

By Jodi Picoult

Ballantine. 417 pp. $28.99

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Advertisement

Supported by

Inside the List

Jodi Picoult Waited to Write ‘The Book of Two Ways.’ Her Timing Was Impeccable.

• Share full article

By Elisabeth Egan

• Published Oct. 8, 2020 Updated May 10, 2021

STORY DOULA Jodi Picoult was getting ready for the evening’s virtual event — a conversation with Kevin Kwan — when she got a call from her editor, letting her know that her 27th novel, “The Book of Two Ways,” had debuted at No. 1 on the hardcover fiction list. “It was a really nice moment in a really bad year,” says the veteran author. “I was terrified about publishing a book during a pandemic, but this one has rejiggered itself in my mind to be perfect pandemic reading.”

Ten years ago, when Picoult’s son was majoring in Egyptology at Yale, he translated the “Book of Two Ways,” which is a 4,000-year-old road map to the underworld . She says, “I walked by him, looked at the title and said, ‘Great name for a novel.’” She did some digging and learned that the mystical text was all about choices: “The deceased could take either a land route or a water route to get to the field of offerings, which is the ancient Egyptian version of heaven. No matter which path you took, you wound up where you were supposed to be.”

That’s when the wheels started turning. Picoult envisioned a middle-aged woman who braces for impact as her plane is crashing and is surprised by what flashes before her eyes. Instead of the life she’s on her way home to — in Boston, married to a guy named Brian, working as a death doula — she sees the life she thought she’d have: with a career in Egyptology, in love with a man she hasn’t seen in 15 years. “She has to decide: What do I do with this information?” says Picoult, who scheduled a research trip to Egypt and had to cancel it because of the Arab Spring. She put the idea aside.

At her son’s wedding four years ago, Picoult struck up a conversation with his thesis adviser, a renowned Egyptologist: “I said, ‘I still want to write that book,’ and she said, ‘I’ll take you to Egypt.’” Picoult also immersed herself in the world of death doulas — “They help people journey out of this world the way a birth doula helps someone journey into it” — and then worked on “The Book of Two Ways” while on book tour in 2018. (“I remember I had this weird meta moment on a plane, writing about a plane going down.”)

Now at No. 5, the novel is now in its second week as a best seller. Picoult says the response has been heartening: “People who have lost relatives to Covid have said this book has been very healing for them, and transformative. We’re all thinking about what we’ve lost. We’re all imagining a world where this isn’t happening.”

Elisabeth Egan is an editor at the Book Review and the author of “A Window Opens.”

Follow New York Times Books on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram , s ign up for our newsletter or our literary calendar . And listen to us on the Book Review podcast .

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

As book bans have surged in Florida, the novelist Lauren Groff has opened a bookstore called The Lynx, a hub for author readings, book club gatherings and workshops , where banned titles are prominently displayed.

Eighteen books were recognized as winners or finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, in the categories of history, memoir, poetry, general nonfiction, fiction and biography, which had two winners. Here’s a full list of the winners .

Montreal is a city as appealing for its beauty as for its shadows. Here, t he novelist Mona Awad recommends books  that are “both dreamy and uncompromising.”

The complicated, generous life  of Paul Auster, who died on April 30 , yielded a body of work of staggering scope and variety .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

• ADMIN AREA MY BOOKSHELF MY DASHBOARD MY PROFILE SIGN OUT SIGN IN

THE BOOK OF TWO WAYS

by Jodi Picoult ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 22, 2020

A midlife crisis story stifled by enough material for several TED talks.

An Egyptologist-turned–hospice worker contemplates the mysteries of fate, mortality, and love.

Picoult’s obsession here is the power of choices and what can happen when they are made under pressure. Dawn, a graduate student in Egyptology, is abruptly called back to Boston from a dig in Egypt by a family emergency. Her mother, who raised her and her brother, Kieran, alone, is in hospice, dying. This death and other circumstances conspire to derail Dawn’s cherished career—now she must raise Kieran, who is only 13. Security is offered by Brian, a physicist at Harvard, whom she marries after discovering she's pregnant. For 15 years, she curates a different life than the one she had planned. She’s now a “death doula,” a concierge hospice worker contracted by the moribund to help wind up loose ends. For Dawn’s client Win, winding up involves getting in touch with a lost love, abandoned for another life. Win’s situation evokes in Dawn renewed longing for her own lost love, Wyatt, an English earl she left behind at the dig. When fault lines emerge in her marriage and teenage daughter Meret is being extra surly, might-have-beens beckon. The nonlinear narrative ricochets between Dawn’s Boston life and her sojourns—past and present—in Egypt. The chronology can be confusing—and, in the case of the prologue, deliberately misleading, it seems. There are no datelines or other guideposts except for periodic headings like "Water/Boston” and “Land/Egypt.” Water and Land reference the “Two Ways,” alternate routes to the afterlife in Egyptian mythology. Whether on death and dying, archaeology, or quantum physics, Picoult’s erudition overload far exceeds the interests of verisimilitude or theme. Do lectures on multiverses bring us any closer to parsing Dawn’s epiphanous epigram—“We don’t make decisions. Our decisions make us ”? This much is clear: The characters’ professions are far better defined than their motivations.

Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-984818-35-5

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020

GENERAL FICTION

Share your opinion of this book

More by Jodi Picoult

BOOK REVIEW

by Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan

by Jodi Picoult

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

New York Times Bestseller

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024

A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.

A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.

When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.

Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024

ISBN: 9781250178633

Page Count: 480

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023

FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION

More by Kristin Hannah

by Kristin Hannah

More About This Book

PERSPECTIVES

BOOK TO SCREEN

Kirkus Reviews' Best Books Of 2015

Kirkus Prize winner

National Book Award Finalist

A LITTLE LIFE

by Hanya Yanagihara ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2015

The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.

Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.

Yanagihara ( The People in the Trees , 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.  

Pub Date: March 10, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8

Page Count: 720

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015

More by Hanya Yanagihara

by Hanya Yanagihara

• Discover Books Fiction Thriller & Suspense Mystery & Detective Romance Science Fiction & Fantasy Nonfiction Biography & Memoir Teens & Young Adult Children's
• News & Features Bestsellers Book Lists Profiles Perspectives Awards Seen & Heard Book to Screen Kirkus TV videos In the News
• Kirkus Prize Winners & Finalists About the Kirkus Prize Kirkus Prize Judges
• Magazine Current Issue All Issues Manage My Subscription Subscribe
• Writers’ Center Hire a Professional Book Editor Get Your Book Reviewed Advertise Your Book Launch a Pro Connect Author Page Learn About The Book Industry
• More Kirkus Diversity Collections Kirkus Pro Connect My Account/Login
• About Kirkus History Our Team Contest FAQ Press Center Info For Publishers
• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• Reprints, Permission & Excerpting Policy

© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Popular in this Genre

Hey there, book lover.

We’re glad you found a book that interests you!

Please select an existing bookshelf

Create a new bookshelf.

We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!

Please sign up to continue.

It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!

Already have an account? Log in.

Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.

Almost there!

• Industry Professional

Welcome Back!

Sign in using your Kirkus account

Contact us: 1-800-316-9361 or email [email protected].

Don’t fret. We’ll find you.

Magazine Subscribers ( How to Find Your Reader Number )

If You’ve Purchased Author Services

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up.

• Member Login
• Library Patron Login

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR

FREE NEWSLETTERS

Search: Title Author Article Search String:

The Book of Two Ways : Book summary and reviews of The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult

Summary | Reviews | More Information | More Books

The Book of Two Ways

by Jodi Picoult

Critics' Opinion:

Readers' rating:

Published Sep 2020 432 pages Genre: Literary Fiction Publication Information

Rate this book

About this book

Book summary.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light comes a riveting novel about the choices that alter the course of our lives.

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?

• "Beyond the Book" articles
• Free books to read and review (US only)
• Find books by time period, setting & theme
• Read-alike suggestions by book and author
• Book club discussions
• and much more!
• Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
• More about membership!

Media Reviews

Reader reviews.

"The dual-life construct can be confusing, and readers may find it not sufficiently explained, but Dawn's story offers keen insight on the limits of love. Picoult's fans will appreciate this multifaceted, high-concept work." - Publishers Weekly "Whether on death and dying, archaeology, or quantum physics, Picoult's erudition overload far exceeds the interests of verisimilitude or theme...A midlife crisis story stifled by enough material for several TED talks." - Kirkus Reviews

Author Information

• Books by this Author

Jodi Picoult Author Biography

Photo: Nina Subin

Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-five novels, including Small Great Things , Leaving Time , The Storyteller , Lone Wolf , Sing You Home , House Rules , Handle with Care , Change of Heart , Nineteen Minutes , and My Sister's Keeper . She is also the author, with daughter Samantha van Leer, of two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page . Picoult lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children.

Author Interview Link to Jodi Picoult's Website

Name Pronunciation Jodi Picoult: pee-coh

Other books by Jodi Picoult at BookBrowse

More Recommendations

Readers also browsed . . ..

• Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
• Held by Anne Michaels
• Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
• One Hour of Fervor by Muriel Barbery
• Change by Edouard Louis
• The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft
• Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennine Capó Crucet
• Real Americans by Rachel Khong
• Long After We Are Gone by Terah Shelton Harris
• Long Island by Colm Toibin

more literary fiction...

Support BookBrowse

Join our inner reading circle, go ad-free and get way more!

Find out more

BookBrowse Book Club

Members Recommend

The Stolen Child by Ann Hood

An unlikely duo ventures through France and Italy to solve the mystery of a child’s fate.

Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung

Eve J. Chung's debut novel recounts a family's flight to Taiwan during China's Communist revolution.

Win This Book

Only the Brave by Danielle Steel

A powerful, sweeping historical novel about a courageous woman in World War II Germany.

Solve this clue:

and be entered to win..

Your guide to exceptional           books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info and giveaways by email.

• By Any Other Name
• Wish You Were Here

The Book of Two Ways

• A Spark of Light
• Small Great Things
• Off the Page
• Leaving Time
• The Storyteller
• Between the Lines
• Sing You Home
• Over The Moon
• House Rules
• Handle With Care
• Change of Heart
• Wonder Woman
• Nineteen Minutes
• The Tenth Circle
• Vanishing Acts
• My Sister's Keeper
• Second Glance
• Perfect Match
• Salem Falls
• Plain Truth
• Keeping Faith
• Picture Perfect
• Harvesting the Heart
• Songs of the Humpback Whale

Jodi Picoult

Order your copy now!

The paperback edition of THE BOOK OF TWO WAYS is now available for purchase! It includes a Q&A with Jodi and Jojo Moyes plus an excerpt from WISH YOU WERE HERE !

• Amazon (US)
• Barnes & Noble
• Books A Million
• Bookshop.org
• Hudson Booksellers
• Google Play
• Audible (Amazon)

Download the “Book Club Kit” : Letter from the Author, Discussion questions for your book club (or for you to ponder on your own!), Cocktails and Photos from Jodi’s trip to Egypt

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, her beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula, where 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 job she 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 the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers transportation wherever they want to go. The obvious option for Dawn is to continue down the path she is on and go home to her family. The other is to 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 beside 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?

#TBOTW debuted instantly #1 as a NYT bestseller!

Praise for The Book of Two Ways

Similar to Alice Hoffman’s depiction of complex family ties, Picoult’s latest stretches the importance of recognizing our bonds to those we love. Highly recommended for open-minded readers. Library Journal, STARRED review

A thrilling adventure . . . With Picoult’s stories, there is always something new to learn, and The Book of Two Ways is no exception. . . . A fun and interesting read, one that will lead readers to both learn a lot and also ask themselves key questions about how to create happy lives for themselves during the short time we have on earth. Associated Press

The Book of Two Ways is a return for Picoult to the themes of her earliest books—motherhood, complicated romantic love. . . . Picoult, at this point in her career, could skillfully build tension in a broom closet, but the best part of this book is not the suspense; it’s the look at the complexity of a woman as she enters middle age. . . . [Picoult] always tells both sides of a story not with judgment, but with grace. The Washington Post

Jodi Picoult fans rejoice! . . . The Book of Two Ways is one story you won’t be able to put down CNN

Asking life or death questions in perfect Picoult fashion. Parade

[A] delightfully escapist, high-concept novel… The Book of Two Ways nearly spills over in its earnestness and emotion. This is a book of big, burning questions such as what defines a great life. BookTrib

Picoult’s fans will appreciate this multifaceted, high concept work. Publishers Weekly

Picoult’s fans will be more than ready for this puzzle of a novel . . .[they] will find heady themes to consider. Booklist

Jodi Picoult knows how to write allll the feels, and The Book of Two Ways is no exception. Cosmo

Unputdownable. E! Online

Riveting. Women.com

If you didn’t already see Jodi’s name and order this one, let us convince you. Good Housekeeping

Picoult has certainly crafted a fun and interesting read, one that will lead readers to both learn a lot and also ask themselves key questions about how to create happy lives for themselves during the short time we have on earth. AP News

An Amazon Best Book of September 2020!

How many of us have looked back on a decision that changed our lives and wondered: what if we had made a different choice? Picoult’s novel THE BOOK OF TWO WAYS digs into this very question and the result is incredibly thought-provoking. Dawn Edelstein was once a young grad student working on a dig in Egypt, in love with a fellow Egyptologist, and getting ever closer to proving a radical new theory about ancient Egyptians’ burial rituals for the road to the afterlife. Then a phone call from home changed everything. Fifteen years later, Dawn is married, with a teenage daughter, and working in Boston as a death doula, helping the dying prepare to leave this world in the best way possible. When Dawn has a near-death experience she is confronted with the question of whether the good life she has could have been a great one. Dawn doesn’t just ponder the question—she returns to Egypt, and the man she once loved, to see if she can find the answer. Picoult incorporates fascinating details about Egyptology into her novel—the title comes from an ancient Egyptian tome of the same name—bringing history and a universal connection into the story. The Book of Two Ways is a provocative exploration into monumental questions: about the life we are living, who we want to be with when we die, and whether it’s possible—and acceptable—to change our mind, return to the trailhead, and go another way. Seira Wilson, Amazon Book Review

Virtual book tour…

The book of two ways virtual book tour —is over, usa and canada: september 22 - november 11, 2020, uk: october 18 - 20, 2020, thanks to all my us, canadian and uk fans who came out to the book of two ways “virtual” tour.   xoxo —jodi, united kingdom edition.

The paperback edition is now available! It includes a Q&A with Jodi and Jojo Moyes plus an excerpt from WISH YOU WERE HERE !

• Waterstones
• Amazon (UK)
• Waterstones - Signed edition
• Waterstones - Half price

Australia/New Zealand edition

• Mighty Ape New Zealand
• Whitcoulls New Zealand
• Apple Books

Photos from my journey to Egypt

To do research for THE BOOK OF TWO WAYS I spent a few weeks in Egypt, learning from one of the foremost Egyptologists in the US: Dr. Colleen Darnell. Here are some photos from my journey that directly reflect moments in the book!

In my novel, Wyatt and Dawn are working in Deir el-Bersha in tombs much like these.

An excerpt from The Book of Two Ways

When my phone alarm chimes, I fish it out from the pocket of my cargo pants. I’ve forgotten, with the time change, to turn off the reminder. I’m still groggy with sleep, but I open the date and read thenames: Iris Vale. Eun Ae Kim. Alan Rosenfeldt. Marlon Jensen.

I close my eyes, and do what I do every day at this moment: I remember them.

Iris, who had died tiny and birdlike, had once driven a getaway car for a man she loved who’d robbed a bank. Eun Ae, who had been a doctor in Korea, but couldn’t practice in the United States. Alan had proudly showed me the urn he bought for his cremated remains and then joked, I haven’t tried it on yet. Marlon had changed out all the toilets in his house and put in new flooring and cleaned the gutters; he bought graduation gifts for his two children and hid them away. He took his twelve-year-old daughter to a hotel ballroom and waltzed with her while I filmed it on his phone, so that the day she got married there would be video of her dancing with her father.

At one point, they were my clients. Now, they’re my stories to keep.

Everyone in my row is asleep. I slip my phone back into my pocket and carefully crawl over the woman to my right without disturbing her—air traveler’s yoga—to make my way to the bathroom in the rear of the plane. There I blow my nose and look in the mirror. I’m at the age where that’s a surprise, where I still think I’m going to see a younger woman rather than the one who blinks back at me. Lines fan from the corners of my eyes, like the creases of a familiar map. If I untangle the braid that lies over my left shoulder, these terrible fluorescent lights would pick up those first gray strands in my hair. I’m wearing baggy pants with an elastic waist, like every other sensible nearly-forty woman who knows she’s going to be on a plane for a long-haul flight. I grab a handful of tissues and open the door, intent on heading back to my seat, but the little galley area is packed with flight attendants. They are knotted together like a frown.

They stop talking when I appear. “Ma’am,” one of them says, “could you please take your seat?”

It strikes me that their job isn’t really very different from mine. If you’re on a plane, you’re not where you started, and you’re not where you’re going. You’re caught in between. A flight attendant is the guide who helps you navigate that passage smoothly. As a death doula, I do the same thing, but the journey is from life to death, and at the end, you don’t disembark with two hundred other travelers. You go alone.

I climb back over the sleeping woman in the aisle seat and buckle my seatbelt just as the overhead lights blaze and the cabin comes alive.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” a voice announces, “we have just been informed by the captain that we’re going to have a planned emergency . Please listen to the flight attendants and follow their directions.”

I am frozen. Planned emergency. The oxymoron sticks in my mind.

There is a quick rush of sound—shock rolls through the cabin— but no screams, no loud cries. Even the baby behind me, who shrieked for the first two hours of the flight, is silent. “We ’re crashing,” the woman on the aisle whispers. “Oh my God, we’re crashing.”

She must be wrong; there hasn’t even been turbulence. Everything has been normal. But then the flight attendants station themselves in the aisles, performing a strange, staccato ballet of safety movements as instructions are read over the speakers. Fasten your seatbelts. When you hear the word brace, assume the brace position. After the plane comes to a complete stop you’ll hear Release your seatbelts. Get out. Leave everything behind.

Leave everything behind.

For someone who makes a living through death, I haven’t given a lot of thought to my own.

I have heard that when you are about to die, your life flashes before your eyes.

But I do not picture my husband, Brian, his sweater streaked with inevitable chalk dust from the old-school blackboards in his physics lab. Or Meret, as a little girl, asking me to check for monsters under the bed. I do not envision my mother, not like she was at the end or before that, when Kieran and I were young.

Instead, I see him.

As clearly as if it were yesterday, I imagine Wyatt in the middle of the Egyptian desert, the sun beating down on his hat, his neck ringed with dirt from the constant wind, his teeth a flash of lightning. A man who hasn’t been part of my life for fifteen years. A place I left behind.

A dissertation I never finished.

Ancient Egyptians believed that to get to the afterlife, they had to be deemed innocent in the Judgment Hall. Their hearts were weighed against the feather of Ma’at, of truth.

I am not so sure my heart will pass.

The woman to my right is softly praying in Spanish. I fumble for my phone, thinking to turn it on, to send a message, even though I know there is no signal, but I can’t seem to open the button on my pants pocket. A hand catches mine and squeezes.

I look down at our fists, squeezed so tight a secret couldn’t slip between our palms.

Brace, the flight attendants yell. Brace!

As we fall out of the sky, I wonder who will remember me.

Much later I would learn that when a plane crashes and the emergency personnel show up, the flight attendants tell them how many souls were on board. Souls, not people. As if they know our bodies are only passing through for a little while.

I would learn that one of the fuel filters became clogged mid-flight. That the second filter-clogging light came on in the cockpit forty-five minutes out, and in spite of what the pilots tried, they could not clear it, and they realized they’d have to do a land evacuation. I would learn that the plane came in short of Raleigh-Durham, sticking down in the football field of a private school. As it hit the bleachers with a wing, the plane tipped, rolled, broke into pieces.

Much later I would learn of the family with the baby behind me, whose row of three seats separated from the floor and was thrown free from the aircraft, killing them instantaneously. I would hear about the six others who had been crushed as the metal buckled; the flight attendant who never came out of her coma. I would read the names of the passengers in the last ten rows who hadn’t gotten out of the broken fuselage before it erupted in flame.

I would learn that I was one of thirty-six people who walked away from the crash.

When I step out of the examination room of the hospital we’ve been taken to, I’m dazed. A woman in a uniform is in the hallway, talking to a man with a bandaged arm. She is part of an emergency response team from the airline that has overseen medical checks by physicians, given us clean clothes and food, and flown in frantic family members.

“Ms. Edelstein?” she says, and I blink, until I realize she is talking to me.

A million years ago, I had been Dawn McDowell. I’d published under that name. But my passport and license read Edelstein. Like Brian’s.

In her hand she has a checklist of crash survivors.

She puts a tick next to my name. “Have you been seen by a doctor?”

“Not yet.” I glance back at the examination room. “

Okay. I’m sure you have some questions . . . ?”

That’s an understatement.

Why am I alive, when others aren’t?

Why did I book this particular flight?

What if I’d been detained checking in, and had missed it?

What if I’d made any of a thousand other choices that would have led me far away from this crash?

At that, I think of Brian, and his theory of the multiverse. Somewhere, in a parallel timeline, there is another me at my own funeral.

At the same time, I think—again, always—of Wyatt.

I have to get out of here.

I don’t realize I have said this out loud until the airline representative responds.

“Once we get the doctor’s paperwork, you’re clear to leave. Is someone coming for you, or do you need us to make travel arrangements?”

We, the lucky ones, have been told we can have a plane ticket anywhere we need to go—to our destination, back to where the flight originated, even somewhere else, if necessary. I have already called my husband. Brian offered to come get me, but I told him not to. I didn’t say why.

I clear my throat. “I have to book a flight,” I say. “

Absolutely.” The woman nods. “Where do you need to go?”

Boston, I think. But there’s something about the way she phrases the question: need, instead of want; and another destination rises like steam in my mind.

I open my mouth, and I answer.

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Investigations
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Shopping
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election Results
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• Auto Racing
• 2024 Paris Olympic Games
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Book Review: Two love affairs fuel ‘The Book of Two Ways’

• Copy Link copied

“The Book of Two Ways,” by Jodi Picoult (Ballantine)

Jodi Picoult’s “The Book of Two Ways” follows Dawn Edelstein, a death doula with a physicist husband and a teenage daughter. Dawn’s job is to help terminally ill patients and their loved ones transition from life to death.

But before she was a death doula, she was a graduate student living in Egypt, studying archeology and in love with a fellow graduate student named Wyatt.

When Dawn is in a plane crash, she finds not the life she currently lives flashing before her eyes, but rather the life she once had with Wyatt 15 years earlier.

After miraculously surviving the crash, Dawn must consider whether to return home to her family or travel to Egypt, find Wyatt, and discover the life that could have been — and maybe could still be.

What unfolds are two side-by-side stories of where each of Dawn’s choices lead her.

“The Book of Two Ways” is a thrilling adventure, but the many timelines woven through the novel can also be a bit difficult to follow. With Picoult’s stories, there is always something new to learn, and “The Book of Two Ways” is no exception. The characters’ interests in ancient Egypt, quantum physics, death, and more bring a certain dynamism to the story, but at times, can also get a bit dense.

Nevertheless, Picoult has certainly crafted a fun and interesting read, one that will lead readers to both learn a lot and also ask themselves key questions about how to create happy lives for themselves during the short time we have on earth.

• Getting Started
• Start a Book Club
• Book Club Ideas/Help▼
• Our Featured Clubs ▼
• Popular Books
• Book Reviews
• Reading Guides
• Blog Home ▼
• Find a Recipe
• About LitCourse
• Course Catalog

Book of Two Ways (Picoult)

The Book of Two Ways   Jodi Picoult, 2020 Random House 432 pp. ISBN-13:  9781984818355 Summary From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a riveting novel about the choices that alter the course of our lives . 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 option for Dawn is to continue down the path she is on and go home to her family. The other is to 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? ( From the publisher .)

• Next >>

LitLovers © 2024

At Home A Lot

For Those That Don't Get Out Much

The Book of Two Ways, Jodie Picoult a review

This month I used my Audible credit on The Book of Two Ways by Jodie Picoult. I am an affiliate of Audible so my post will contain links that could earn me a little money if you click through and use them, but will not cost you any more. Thank you for your support.

Dawn thinks she knows everything there is to know about dying. As a death doula, she helps her clients fix what is left undone so they can peacefully make the final transition. But when her plane plummets from the sky and she thinks she is experiencing the last moments of her life, she is shocked to find that she isn’t thinking of her husband or teenage daughter – but of a road she strayed from 15 years earlier, when she turned her back on her PhD studies.  Against all odds, Dawn survives, and the airline gives her a free ticket to wherever she needs to get to. In alternating chapters, we see possible choices: land – returning to her husband, a quantum physicist who studies the possibilities of parallel universes, she is faced with a test to her marriage and a daughter who is struggling with self-image issues. And water: returning to her studies and the archaeological site she worked on 15 years earlier, where the man she abandoned is about to make the discovery of a lifetime.   But time may not be as straightforward as we think. As Dawn explores her possible futures, she is finding out what a well-lived life means, what we leave behind of ourselves when we leave the earth, and who she might have been…. 

My Review of The Book of Two Ways

This was an impulse buy, I was totally taken in by the blurb. How intriguing to follow two different paths to see what would have happened. A Little bit like the movie ‘ Sliding Doors ‘ I thought. I was wrong. Jodie Picoult is a lot more detailed than romantic comedy.

I’ll admit, although the beginning of the book was a great grab, I did find some parts a little more difficult to digest. I had gone in with totally the wrong expectations, thinking it was a light hearted read. But some of the details were a little too intense for that. Jodie Picoult certainly did a lot of research, quantum physics, hieroglyphics and Egyptology are just a few things she delves into. I did actually find it all fascinating and it certainly made me think. Definitely not so much a light hearted read which I was expecting.

The main character was likeable enough, as were the other main characters, and their personalities were examined in about the right detail. It always helps when you can connect to the characters of a book. They all had their own ways and reasons for being there in the book.

The story line was confusing but how can you not write something that goes in two completely different ways without a little confusion. If I’d a hard copy of the book I may have spent time flicking back just to make sure I’d got the thread of the story correct. (I must admit, the plane crash caused a little confusion.)

I liked how Jodie Picoult studied completely different personalities and threaded them together. I liked how she investigated how our dreams might differ so much from our real life and how pursuing our dreams can cause such conflict in our lives.

I liked how she set up the characters for the way the story developed. From her daughter who felt something was wrong with her from the beginning, to her husband not being the most stable rock she believed him to be, to the ‘other man’ who she had always loved being a bit of a surprise. Then there was her client that she was preparing for death. Combining the thought process of someone dying with those of who have so much living to do made for a very satisfying read.

There were a few twists and turns, but this was not a mystery book. There was just the right amount of romance and heartbreak but this is not a romance. The book was incredibly detailed though and it did get a little ‘boring’ at times. Some details could have been omitted.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. There were times I wanted to give up but I’m glad I persevered because it gave me plenty of food for thought at the end.

I listened to the book on Audible and the narrator made me cringe with her English accent. But if you consider that the English character was actually a Marquis then it is possible he would speak like this.

If I had a copy of the book I think there are lots of parts I would re-read a few times because they are well worth absorbing.

You can buy a copy of the book on Amazon here which is my affiliate link.

I’m joining in with Jo’s 20 Books for Christmas Challenge over on Tea and Cake for the Soul .

The books I’ve read so far. (I’ve some catching up to do)

Platform Seven by Louise Doughty, a review

Orwellian Millenium – A (kind of) Review of 1984

Oh hi there 👋 It’s nice to meet you.

Sign up to receive interesting mindfulness content in your inbox, every month..

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Share this:

Published by athomealot

View all posts by athomealot

2 thoughts on “The Book of Two Ways, Jodie Picoult a review”

I was so disappointed in this book; I typically LOVE LOVE LOVE Jodi Picoult’s books but got so slogged down by all the Egyptian history that I didn’t even finish it. I thought the premise of the book sounded so promising. Her books usually are pretty heavy and intense but not normally so historical- factual based. #MMBC

• Pingback: How Did I do on my 20 Books for Christmas Challenge? - At Home A Lot

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

 Yes, add me to your mailing list

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Advertise   Contact   Privacy

Browse All Reviews

New Releases

List Reviews by Rating

List Reviews by Author

List Reviews by Title

The Book of Two Ways

Quick recap & summary by chapter.

The Full Book Recap and Chapter-by-Chapter Summary for The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult are below.

Quick(-ish) Recap

The Book of Two Ways opens with Dawn Edelstein surviving a plane crash. From there, it switches back and forth between two timelines. In one, Dawn goes home to her husband and daughter in Boston.

In another, she goes to Egypt where she'd once worked as a Yale graduate student 15 years ago, pursuing a career in Egyptology. She paused her graduate studies to care for her mother who had cancer. Afterwards, she withdrew to become a guardian for her younger brother, Kieran (their father died in active duty).

In the Egypt timeline, Dawn finds her way back to the Yale dig site. As a student, Dawn's research had been in the Ancient Egyptian "coffin texts", one of which was the Book of Two Ways. The Book of Two Ways includes a map that shows two routes that one can take in the afterlife. In present day at the dig site, she finds Wyatt Armstrong , an old flame, who is now the Director of Egyptology at Yale. Wyatt has since discovered a previously unknown tomb which he is in the process of unearthing.

In the Boston timeline, Dawn continues her work as a death doula, helping to ease the transition for patients at the end of their lives. Dawn went into hospice work after caring for her mother. She'd also met her husband, Brian , during that time and had gotten pregnant with their daughter, Meret . In present day, Dawn works on fixing her marriage with Brian, a physics professor at Yale. They'd gotten in a fight over Brian's relationship with Gita, a post-doc working under him. While nothing had happened yet, Brian had missed Meret's birthday party because he was with Gita. Meanwhile, Meret is a teenager who struggles with her weight.

In the Egypt timeline, Wyatt agrees to let Dawn stay and work at the dig site. As student, they had initially knocked heads because their research areas overlapped, but their relationship had later become romantic. In present day, Wyatt asks Dawn why she is here, but Dawn is unable to admit that her curiosity about what a life with him would have been like drew her there. As the days pass, they reach a big event, the unearthing of the tomb's burial chamber. Even more exciting is the discovery that the chamber is fully intact. Upon further inspection, they also find the earliest iteration of the Book of Two Ways known in existence.

In the Boston timeline, Dawn and Brian work to repair their relationship, and Brian makes an effort to be more thoughful. Meret gets made fun of by kids in her summer program, but soon enrolls a new program where she meets a P.E. teacher who is supportive of her. Meanwhile, Dawn takes on a new client, Win, who is a painter. Win confides in Dawn about her son Arlo, who died of an overdose at 16. Arlo's father was an art professor, Thane Bernard , who Win had once had an affair with. Now, Win wants Dawn to track Thane down and deliver a letter informing him about Arlo.

In the Egypt timeline, Dawn knows she must go home, since her family is concerned over her absence. But instead she tells Wyatt she loves him, and they sleep together. But the next morning his fiancé and the financier of the dig, Anya Dailey, shows up. Dawn is angry at Wyatt for not telling her about Anya. But Wyatt points out that Dawn is married.

In the Boston timeline, Dawn is about to leave for London to deliver Win's letter to Thane when Meret gets the results of a mail-in DNA test that she had done. The results indicate that Brian is not Meret's biological father, and Dawn realizes that Wyatt is Meret's father. Dawn goes to London, but then heads directly to Egypt.

(At this point in the book, it's revealed that the Boston and Egypt timelines are not two separate realities, but rather the Egypt stuff happens after the Boston stuff.) So, in Egypt everything happens (with Dawn finding Wyatt and them uncovering the burial chamber and sleeping together, etc), ending with Dawn telling Wyatt what she has recently learned, which is that he is Meret's father. In response, Wyatt asks to meet Meret, and soon Dawn and Wyatt are on a plane headed toward Boston.

The plane they are on starts going down (and at this point, it's revealed that the plane crash in the beginning of the book actually happens after both the Boston and Egypt timelines). Dawn and Wyatt both survive, and Brian meets Dawn in the hospital. Dawn admits to Brian what has happened between her and Wyatt. Brian decides to give her space to sort out what she wants, with the hope that she will choose him in the end.

After Dawn and Wyatt make it back to Boston, Wyatt meets Meret and begins to get to know her. Brian continues to try to give Dawn her space to figure things out. Win passes away. When the book ends, Dawn has been home for a week, and Meret asks Dawn what she plans to do, both in terms of whether she'll return to Egypt and who she'll choose. The book cuts off as Dawn opens her mouth to answer.

If this summary was useful to you, please consider supporting this site by leaving a tip ( $2 , $3 , or $5 ) or joining the Patreon !

Chapter-by-Chapter Summary

A woman, Dawn Edelstein , is on a flight to Raleigh-Durham when the plane crashes. She is one of 36 survivors. After her hospital examination, they ask where she needs to go. She thinks of her husband, Brian , and her home in Boston. But another destination comes up in her mind.

Chapter 1: Land/Egypt

In Cairo, she heads to Ramses train station and takes the train to the Minya stop. She is familiar with the customs and with traveling around Egypt, since she had once planned to be an Egyptologist. Her studies were in Egyptian history and Ancient Egyptian religion.

In regards to religion, she studied Re (sun god) and Osiris (god of the underworld, and also the corpse of Re). The Egyptians believes Re dragged the sun across the sky each day, to be reunited with his corpse (Osiris) at night, which gave him the power to do the same the next day. It’s a daily rebirth.

Egyptians cared deeply about the afterlife and preparation for death. Most have heard of the Book of the Dead , but Egyptians know it as Book of Going Forth by Day . It’s a book of spells to help the deceased find their way in the afterlife.

The book evolved from a number of funerary texts (the Coffin Texts), one of which is The Book of Two Ways , a map of the afterlife. It shows two main roads through the realm of the dead that each lead to the Field of Offerings, where one feasts with Osiris for eternity. However, the roads also lead to dead ends, demons, guardians that require magic to bypass, and circles of fire. The book contains the spells needed to navigate these obstacles.

Dawn arrives in Egypt on the day of the Sothic Rising , when the star Sirius appears in the sky, signaling a rebirth and coinciding with the flooding of the Nile (a process that leaves silt behind that fertilizes crops).

She finally stops in Deir El-Bersha , located in the middle of Egypt. She goes to the Dig House, which houses the Yale archaeological team working at the site. There, she finds the house caretaker, Harbi . He’s the son of Hasib , the former caretaker, who Dawn knew from her graduate school studies (never completed). She working here for three seasons on Djehutyhotep’s tomb, 15 years ago. The team is currently at another dig site.

Wyatt Armstrong (nicknamed Mark , short for “Marquess of Atherton”, his father’s title) is now the director of the Yale Egyptology program. Dawn recalls her first meeting Wyatt, arrogant and drunk, in a bar in 2001. Professor Ian Dumphries was in charge of the program at the time, where Dawn had transferred into from the University of Chicago in order to be able to work at Deir el-Bersha.

After joining the program, Dawn had soon discovered that Wyatt was his star pupil. Like Dawn, his thesis was also about the Coffin Texts. Wyatt’s work was focused on ritual speech and verbal pattern in the texts. Dawn’s work was on iconography (how the coffin represents universe, with the mummy itself filling the space between heaven and earth).

Despite her attempts to avoid Wyatt, as TAs for Dumphries, their interactions were inevitable. At a visit to an exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts about The Book of Two Ways, they’d taught the undergrads some basics about the book and deciphering hieroglyphs. The blue and black lines in the map represent a water route and a land route to reach Osiris; knowledge was considered the key to resurrection (which is why the book of spells was placed in the coffin); the direction of the faces in hieroglyphs indicate the direction of the text (reading left to right or vice versa).

In July 2003, Dawn had been at Deir El-Bersha for her third (and final) season with Yale Egyptology. She and Wyatt were working documenting the inaccuracies and mistakes in previously published version of the drawings on the tomb of Djehutyhotep II. As they work, Dawn tells Wyatt about her Irish mother’s belief in numerous superstitions. Wyatt hints at his unhappy childhood. They talk about how “tombs were meant to be visited. That’s how memories get preserved.”

In present day, Dawn looks around the Dig House. In the journals, she reads about how Wyatt had discovered the tomb of a nomarch in 2013. She also sees his completed thesis. In it, Wyatt references an article Dawn had once published, “The Corpse Makes the Coffin Whole” in 2002. He also notes that Dawn had been right about the iconography involved in the placement of texts on the coffin, something they’d once disagreed about. (The narration implies that Dawn and Wyatt’s relationship eventually turned romantic.)

As she reads, Wyatt walks in. Dawn tells him she wants to work here again, to “finish what I started”.

Chapter 2: Water/Boston

In this section, we step into an alternate timeline where Dawn left the hospital and went straight home. The idea of two possible paths was introduced in the first chapter (though the Book of Two Ways and the two roads), but is further explored later in this chapter when Brian discusses quantum mechanics.

Dawn now works as a “death doula”. She had learned about her mother’s Stage 4 cancer diagnosis during her third season at Deir El-Bersha. Her younger brother, Kieran , had been 13 at the time. Their father had passed away when their mother was pregnant with Kieran. Once her mother died, Dawn became Kieran’s legal guardian which put her studies on hold, since she needed to get a job.

Dawn ended up working at the hospice that had cared for her mother, a job that was given to her out of pity. But she was good with the patients, and soon became a hospice social worker. A decade later, Dawn took a course on Intro to Death Midwifery, which led her to become a death doula (“just as birth doulas know that there’s discomfort and pain that can be managed during labor, death doulas do the same at the other end of the life spectrum”). She started her business 5 years ago, providing end-of-life care.

In present day, in Boston, Brian tries to apologize for their last argument, which resulted in Dawn leaving. He has not told Meret , their teenaged daughter, about it. Brian is a scientist who does work in quantum mechanics.

The next morning, Brian skips an important speech in order to talk to Dawn. Their fight had been about Gita, a post-doc in Brian’s physics program, who Brian had been mentoring. He had forgotten Meret’s birthday because he’d agreed to help Gita set up an air conditioning unit at her apartment. He had also ignored two texts from Dawn about it, later claiming it was because he’d been embarrassed about missing Meret’s brithday. Now, Brian apologies and the two of them have sex. Afterwards, however, Dawn is still hasn’t really forgiven him.

Dawn had met Brian at the hospice where her mother had been. He’d been there seeing his grandmother who raised him and now had Alzheimer’s. He had taught her about quantum interference, the double-slit experiment in quantum mechanics and Schrödinger’s cat.

The basic idea to know for the purposes of this story is that quantum movement is probabilistic. You don’t know exactly what path something takes, rather, there’s probabilities that each path could have been the one taken. And in that sense, each of these possible paths exist.

In present day, Dawn calls Kieran to talk to him about her marital troubles, but he reassures her they can work it out, assuming “That’s what you want, right?” Dawn replies “of course” (but in the context of the story it seems to hint that she’s not sure at all).

Dawn recalls how there was a cat at the hospice that used to sit at the foot of people’s beds to let the staff know the person was dying very soon. It could just sense it and a 100% accuracy rate. One day, it appeared on the bed of Judith , whose daughter Alanna was caring for her. After Judith appeared to die, she had drawn one last breath and then died yet again. Dawn feels sad for Alanna, having to grieve her mother twice and to have to accept her death twice.

Dawn’s newest client is Winifred “Win” Morse , who shares the same birthday as her. She has Stage 4 ovarian cancer. Dawn meets with Win and her husband, Felix . Win appreciates Dawn’s straight-forward manner. Dawn explains that she’s here to do anything that can help with the impending death, ranging from assisting in funeral arrangements to tidying up the house, but she can’t prescribe or administer medicine. She’s also not here to provide care such as diaper changes, since that’s the job of a caregiver.

Afterwards, Dawn drives to Boston harbor. She thinks about how her mother used to wonder what her life would have been like if she hadn’t left Ireland — perhaps working at her father’s pub or maybe a swimmer. Dawn thinks about a different life where she could have continued pursuing Egyptology and become a curator at the Met.

Dawn thinks about her daughter who takes after Brian’s love for science. Meret is smart and curious, but struggles with her weight despite leading an active lifestyle and eating healthy. Neither Dawn or Brian struggle with the same issue, but Meret seems to resent Dawn, likely because Dawn is the one she compares herself to in terms of appearance. Meret is closer to her father, and Dawn wishes sometimes that she could be the preferred parent.

Chapter 3: Land/Egypt

In this section, the book switches back to the timeline where Dawn ended up going to Egypt after the plane crash. The book continues switching back and forth between these two alternate realities.

Technically, Wyatt should not hire Dawn at the site since Dawn is no longer associated with Yale. However, he agrees to try to procure a temporary permit for her. Wyatt doesn’t understand why Dawn has suddenly decided to return after all these years.

At the Dig House, Dawn meets Mohammed Mahmoud , who is the son of Mohammad who worked there back when Dawn was in the program. She also meets Joe , who is a grad student working on a dissertation about how Ancient Egyptians worked with their hands and the tools they used. Joe shows her the new technology, like 3D renderings, they employ there nowadays.

Wyatt tells Dawn about his discovery of Djehutynakht’s tomb (one of many “Djehutynakht”s mentioned in the book since it was a common name). They are still working on excavating it fully and haven’t even reached the burial chamber yet, since there’s so much information to record. This Djehutynakht, son of Teti, predates the oldest mummy found at the Bersha necropolis (Djehutynakht, son of Ahanakht I) by two generations. So, if there’s a Book of Two Ways in its coffin, then it would be the oldest one known to be in existence.

Dawn thinks about the possible paths that could happen from here. In one, she works with him, and they find the Book of Two Ways there. In another, she is denied a permit.

Dawn is given a permit (technically as a guest, but with the implication that the director of antiquities will turn the over cheek if she does more than observe). Dawn is tempted to admit that she is here because she never forgot about Wyatt and because she never got to find out how things could have turned about between them. But Dawn holds back. Instead, they reminisce about Professor Humpries, who has since passed away. Later, Dawn thanks Wyatt for including a citation about her article in his thesis, and the look on his face indicates that he had intentionally put it there for her to find.

Chapter 4: Water/Boston

In the reality where Dawn goes back to Boston, she decides to attend one of Brian’s lectures, where he teaches at Harvard. In class he discusses the quantum suicide experiment, which is a thought experiment about theoretical immortality. After the lecture, Dawn thinks about starting anew with Brian to move past what has happened. But before she can talk to him, she’s interrupted by Gita, who reminds Brian no to be late for his department meeting.

Dawn confronts Brian about his current relationship with Gita, and Brian says she’s still working under him as a postdoc. Brian also reminds Dawn that he never slept with her, but Dawn counters that Brian made choices that make him culpable, like the choice to spend that night helping Gita instead of with his family.

Dawn thinks back to her first date with Brian and being able to forget momentarily about her mother dying of cancer and her studies being interrupted. Brian had told her about his grandmother, an Auschwitz survivor who helped to save a child who she later ran into decades later.

When Dawn’s mother is close to the end, Dawn has to deal with the financial mess that’s leftover, to the tune of being $150,000 in debt. After her mother passes away, Dawn learns that Brian’s grandmother passed away two week prior, but that he had continued visiting the hospice to be there for Dawn.

In present day, Dawn agrees to take on Win and Felix as clients and meets with them. She helps Win sort out the logistics around her impending death, such as questions about funeral arrangements or whether she wants to sign a DNR.

As they discuss, Dawn thinks about how Egyptians believed that the body needed to preserved for eternity in order to house their soul, which is why mummification was necessary. It “mirrored the path of the sun god Re, who became one with the corpse of the Osiris every night before he was reborn the next morning”. Their organs were placed in canopic jars where Gods (represented by the falcon, baboon, a person, and a jackal) watched over them. The heart was left in place, since it was considered the location of all personality and intelligence.

Dawn begins sleeping with Brian while waiting for her mother to die, and soon after she learns that she is pregnant. When she finally tells him, Brian is delighted. He invites her to move in him, offering to help out with Kieran as well. Dawn officially withdraws from the Yale Egyptology program, and eight months later Meret is born.

In present day, Dawn struggles to connect with Meret, who is upset about something but won’t say what. That night, Brian comes home late and Dawn demands to know where he was. Brian declines to answer, saying that she’s going to believe what she wants either way. The next day, Meret finally admits that she’s worried that they’re going to get a divorce. Meret knows that Dawn left (when she got on that plane flight) briefly after a fight they had. When asked, Dawn lies and says that she and Brian were arguing about money.

Later, Dawn thinks about her first encounter with death, which was the passing of her dog Dudley. She also visits Win, who shows her a piece of Egyptian art that she has, though Win doesn’t know the meaning of it. Dawn explains that it is a reproduction of a spell involving the weighing of a heart. A light heart implied innocence. If you did the spells right, said the right things and your heart was light enough, you could make it to the Field of Offerings where the things that brought you joy during your life were returned to you so you could enjoy for eternity.

Chapter 5: Land/Egypt

In the Egypt timeline, Dawn dreams of Brian, though he is too busy with his work to notice her. She awakes to Wyatt telling her that the electricity is out. As they get ready to leave for the site, Dawn wonders if she’s in over her head. At the tomb of Djehutynakht, Wyatt instruct Dawn to make a paleography of one area of hieroglyphs so they can make a 3D image of the wall.

Afterwards, Wyatt inspects Dawn’s work approvingly after the day is done. There’s hope that they’ll reach the burial chamber by tomorrow, an event they’ve been waiting a long time for, and it’s possible that it will be fully intact and untouched by grave robbers. If so, it would be an amazing find. Later, Dawn texts Meret to reassure her that she will be home soon.

As she works, Dawn recalls how Dumphries’s wife, Bette had visited the site for a week each season. On Bette’s last day in 2003, Dumpries and Bette had left Dawn and Wyatt dancing and drinking. Afterwards, Dawn had told Wyatt about her father being in the army and dying on duty. Wyatt had talked about his older brother dying of Lymphoma and him becoming the new Earl of Rawlings as a result. Finally, Wyatt kisses Dawn, before she run away.

The next day, Wyatt acts coldly around her. They get into an argument, but are interrupted when they discover an inscription that hints at the presence of another tomb in the necropolis (the one of Djehutynakht, son of Teti, which Wyatt later discovers). Since they are not supposed to be in that area without an inspector present, Wyatt and Dawn agree to lure Dumphries to that area later and “rediscover” the ancient hieratic message.

Wyatt also admits that he has been antagonistic toward Dawn because she had transferred into the program and happened to be studying the exact same area and subject matter that he was interested in, and he was jealous that Dumphries was clearly impressed by her.

Once they “rediscover” the message with Dumphries and an inspector present, the group celebrates the find. Wyatt suggests to Dawn that they set out upon finding the tomb referenced in the inscription, and the two of them end up having sex. Wyatt tells Dawn that she reminds him of Sakhmet, a fierce and bloodthirsty lioness Egyptian goddess who would transform at times Hathor, a peaceful sky goddess representing creativity and love. He references the Tale of the Herdsman, which is about a man who meets Sakhmet just before she transforms into Hathor. Wyatt says that “I came to the desert with a lioness and ended up with a goddess in my arms.”

The next day, Dawn tries to dismiss it all as a mistake, but Wyatt doesn’t let her. Her gives her a piece of limestone with a poem written in hieratic on it. Later, it is the only thing Dawn takes with her when she leaves Egypt.

Chapter 6: Water/Boston

Back in the Boston timeline, Dawn tries to keep up appearances around Meret. Sometimes things are normal with Brian, and other times she resents him. Dawn spends a lot of time with Win, since it’s easier than dealing with her marriage. Win loves art, so one day they visit the MFA. Dawn thinks about how Brian is uninterested in anything that isn’t quantifiable. As they walk past the area where the Book of Two Ways is housed, Dawn gasps, thinking she sees Wyatt, but it’s just a blond stranger.

As the days pass, Win gets weaker. One day, Win tells Dawn about Arlo, her son who died of an overdose at 16. Arlo had been a preemie and spent weeks in the NICU. Later, he’d been diagnosed with an attachment disorder (oppositional defiant disorder), which eventually fueled his drug use and overdose. Win asks to have his blanket with her when she dies. Afterwards, Dawn brings up Arlo to Felix, who mentions that Arlo was not his biological son.

When Dawn gets home, Meret is feeling unsure about going to a dance for her summer program, but Dawn insists she goes. Dawn doesn’t want to encourage her social anxiety. Dawn dresses her up and puts makeup on her to encourage her to attend. Meanwhile, Dawn and Brian attend a dinner party at the house of Harvard’s faculty dean, Horace Germaine , which Brian considers to be an important event. During the party, Dawn and Kelsey Hobbs , Horace’s wife, slip away to chat and she jokes glibly about her job.

Brian gets upset with Dawn about her behavior, but Dawn accuses Brian of abandoning her at the party and runs out. Dawn realizes that perhaps the reason she has been mad at Brian was not about Gita at all, but that she’d always assumed Brian would be there for her until he wasn’t. Afterwards, Brian apologizes.

Back at home, Meret comes home upset. The kids she was with had stolen a rowboat and then proceeded to have a discussion about whether “fat makes you sink or rise” (in reference to Meret). Afterwards, Brian tells Dawn, “I told you she should have stayed home”, which furthers the wedge between the two of them.

With Win’s death impending, Win is trying to come to terms with her mortality. To try to bring Win some peace, Dawn tries a guided meditation by Joan Halifax and Larry Rosenberg based on the nine contemplations of dying.

One night, Dawn comes home late after Win gets a fever and has to be checked out at the hospice. Dawn comes back to find that Brian has covered their bedroom in photographs of himself and Meret. He explains that in their world, Dawn is the star, and that he “fell out of orbit” but wants to get back on track. Afterwards, they have sex.

That night, Dawn gets a call from a long-term client, Thalia , who is dying. As Dawn sits by her bedside, Thalia mistakes her for angel of death. Dawn thinks about the inexplicable things she’s heard of people seeing before they die, and she wonders why it happens.

As Win continues her decline, Dawn tries to comfort Felix, reminding him that parts of Win will still be around after she dies and he’ll keep loving her. Later, Win tells Dawn about a professor, Thane Bernard , she’d fallen for when she was a student. Thane had been married, and she’d gotten pregnant (with Arlo). She hadn’t told Thane about the pregnancy because his wife was also expecting, and she was afraid of what he’d choose if she told him. Instead, she had the baby on her own and later met Felix. Now, Win wants Dawn to tell Thane about Arlo, and she doesn’t want Felix to know. Dawn says she has to think about it.

At home, Dawn digs up the limestone rock that Wyatt once gave her.

Chapter 7: Land/Egypt

Back in the Egypt timeline, Wyatt is frustrated and irate because the unearthing of the burial chamber is being held up due to structural issues and the schedule of Mostafa Awad , the director of antiquities, who needs to be present for the opening. Meanwhile, Dawn has noticed how cold one member of the team, Alberto the digital archaeologist, is towards her, though she doesn’t know why.

One night, Wyatt asks her why she came to Egypt, and Dawn responds with “clarity”, implying it is about her nixed career as an Egyptologist, instead of telling him the truth. Wyatt talks about his own regrets in his childhood and wanting his father’s approval. Finally, Wyatt tells Dawn that he tried to write her and e-mail her, but it was all returned undelivered, so he’d assumed she was avoiding him. Dawn says that she never got the letters and that she didn’t know he was looking for her, but then she gets up and walks away.

Back in her room, Dawn calls Brian, who begs her to come home. Dawn thinks about the day they got married, at a simple town hall wedding with Kieran holding Meret. Brian hadn’t been able to find the words for his vows, but instead gave them to her later in the form of a equation written on a slip of paper. Asking her to solve for I, the equation worked out to I Dailey (who is funding the dig), isn’t present for this, but Wyatt doesn’t want to talk about it.

When the mummy is removed, they find a Book of Two Ways, the oldest one known in existence. Dawn also finds a spell referencing the Hall of Two Truths, which is something only seen in later eras, so they surmise that the coffin texts must have evolved into what later became Spell 125 in the New Kingdom (later era). They also find a duplicate of the spell in another location opposite from it. It offers clear proof of Dawn’s theory about the importance of the text’s location.

As they work, Dawn thinks back to after her relationship with Wyatt had started. They had tried to keep it secret at first, but everyone had soon found out. But a few weeks into their passionate romance, Dawn had gotten the call that her mother was dying with only a few weeks left to live. Wyatt had driven her back to the airport in Cairo, telling her he’s do anything for her and saying “I love you.” Dawn had left without saying it back.

In present day, Wyatt asks Dawn why she never came back, but Dawn doesn’t know how to explain that choosing Brian meant choosing safety and security. Dawn also checks her e-mail to see messages from Brian, Meret and her brother, all asking what is going on and why she isn’t home yet. Dawn writes Meret back with reassurances, but only writes a quick note back to Brian saying “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Dawn then goes into Wyatt’s room and tells him that she loves him. They have sex. The next morning, Albert comes into Wyatt’s room to tell him that Dailey is here. Wyatt is immediately worried. Anya Dailey turns out to be a woman, and Dawn soon learns that she is also Wyatt’s fiancé.

Chapter 8: Water/Boston

In the Boston timeline, Dawn meets up with a friend, Abigail Beauregard Trembley, who also does hospice work to ask for advice. She explains that her client (Win) wants to make a deathbed confession (about Arlo) which may hurt people who are left behind. Abigail reminds her that the client trumps the caregiver and not to make the situation about herself.

After Meret refuses to return to her STEM camp, Dawn finds a new summer program for her. At the end of the first day, Meret reports that the P.E. teacher, Mrs. Thibodeaum, that made her cry. Before Meret can finish talking, Dawn confronts the P.E. teacher, but it turns out that the teacher actually said something that Meret was happy about. Mrs. Thibodeau was heavier when she was younger, but had taken up tennis. She’d suggested that Meret had good hand-eye coordination and might be good at it as well.

Dawn meets up with Kieran and asks about his love life. Kieran is a neurosurgeon and his last boyfriend left him for someone who was less wrapped up in his job. Kieran mentions that he loves his work and that he’s grateful for the sacrifices Dawn made for him.

Meanwhile, Brian has been doing small, thoughtful things like bringing home flowers. At night, Dawn finds a list from a women’s magazine titled “19 Ways to Tell Your S.O. You Care!” and Dawn is touched to see that Brian is doing something out of character to make an effort. She later brings up the list to him and tells him that she doesn’t need him to be someone he’s not, but she appreciates the effort. Still, her mind drifts back to Wyatt. She recalls the day long ago when he’d told her about how father had wiped out their family fortune and resented Wyatt for being the son who lived instead of his brother.

Dawn finally decides to help Win find Thane. Win has a new energy knowing that Dawn is working on finding him. At first the search is fruitless, but Dawn pays a service to track him down. Win paints again for the first time in a long time a picture of two faint profiles “a breath apart, unable to complete that kiss for eternity” which she plans to use as stationery for the letter she plans to write to Thane. When Felix sees that Win is painting, he begins to hope that Win may survive. Dawn reminds him that having a burst of energy before dying is normal and that Win is terminal.

Dawn’s paid search results in learning that Thane has quit teaching to become an artist. She finds a photo of him at a charity auction event. When she sees it, Dawn gets curious about what Wyatt is up to now. She Googles him to find a relatively recent photo of him. However, as she’s looking at it, Brian walks in and is visibly upset. Dawn didn’t know that Brian knew about Wyatt, but Brian admits that Wyatt had written her letters long ago that he never gave her.

Chapter 9: Land/Egypt

In the Egypt timeline, Dawn learns that Anya is Lady Anya and a wealthy, distant relative of the Queen. They give Anya a tour of the site, but Dawn eventually gets upset and storms out. Wyatt follows her. Dawn is angry that Wyatt didn’t say anything, but Wyatt had though that she knew (since someone else had told her about their benefactor). Wyatt points out that Dawn is married. Finally, he kisses her, saying that he’ll tell Anya the truth if she asks him to, but Dawn says no.

Later, Dawn talks to Albert who admits that he has been cold toward her because he recognized that Dawn’s presence put their funding at risk. Albert also points out the cruelty in Dawn coming here to remind Wyatt of his love for her if her plan was simply to leave him again.

Afterwards, Dawn is still upset at the thought of Wyatt and Anya together, but she finds a limestone rock with the message “Forever and ever” written in Sharpie (from Wyatt, presumably) on her bed when she returns to her room.

Chapter 10: Water/Boston

In Win’s letter to Thane, she writes about her love for Thane, but she also explains why she married Felix, too. She said that she had wanted to be like Thane, but loved Felix for how safe he made her feel. Finally, she writes about Arlo, about Arlo’s death and about how she’ll likely be dead by the time he reads this.

Dawn goes suit shopping with Kieran and at one point she thinks she smells Wyatt, though it’s not him. Instead, she admits to Kieran everything that’s been going on with Brian, Gita and thinking about Wyatt.

With Win’s death imminent, Win asks Dawn to leave in order to deliver the letter, knowing there’s a decent chance Win will die when Dawn is away. Still, Win insists, saying that Felix will be there to take care of her. As Dawn packs up to leave for London to find Thane, Brian admits that he worries that Dawn will leave and not come back. Brian asks Dawn not to leave right now while they are fighting for their marriage.

As they discuss, Meret comes bounding in with the results of a mail-in DNA test she had taken. Together, they see that Meret’s DNA has come back as being 98% British and Irish. As Brian looks confused because his ancestry consists of Polish Jews, Dawn thinks about how Wyatt had told her that he was English, “through and through”.

Chapter 11: Land/Egypt

In the Egypt timeline, Anya finally departs. Wyatt tells Dawn to stay here with him, but Dawn says that even if she could leave Brian, she wouldn’t consider leaving her daughter, Meret, who is named after the Egyptian goddess Meretseger. She is a deity who represents strength, but also forgiveness. Dawn finally admits to Wyatt that Meret is actually their daughter (hers and Wyatt’s).

Chapter 12: Water/Boston

In the Boston timeline, Brian demands to know why Dawn didn’t tell him the truth about Meret. Dawn says she didn’t know, even though on some level she did suspect. Brian is angry, and Dawn leaves for London.

In England, Dawn arrives at Thane’s house and sees him with his family. She finds herself unable to deliver the letter, worried about the damage it could do to his family. Instead, she heads back to the airport, but then instead of buying a ticket to Boston, she goes to Egypt.

Dawn arrives in Cairo, and then she proceeds to head toward the dig site as she notes that it’s the day of the Sothic Rising.

At this point, the story mirrors the beginning of the Egypt timeline, and we realize that they are not two separate timelines at all. Instead, the Boston stuff happens before the Egypt stuff. This part picks up from the beginning of the Egypt timeline at the beginning of the book.

Chapter 13: Cairo to Boston

The book picks up with Dawn and Wyatt headed back to Boston from Cairo. After telling Wyatt the information about Meret’s paternity, Wyatt thinks that she’s been hiding this from him all along, but Dawn assures him that she found out because of Meret’s recent DNA test. Wyatt then asks to meet Meret, so Dawn and Wyatt head to Boston together.

They get on the flight, but the plane begins to crash. (At this point, we find out that the first chapter of the book actually does not precede the rest of the events of the book. Instead, the plane crash that is described in the book happens after the majority of the events in the book.)

As the plane goes down, Dawn thinks about Wyatt and he tells her he loves her. Soon, there is smoke and fire, and Dawn finds him bleeding from the head. Wyatt kisses her.

Dawn awakes in a hospital with Brian at her side. Brian explains that she has had surgery to relieve the pressure on her brain. Meret is with Kieran. Dawn is momentarily confused, unsure what has happened and what she has imagined.

Then, she hears Wyatt outside and demanding to be let into the room. He marches into the room, and Dawn introduces Wyatt to Brian. Afterwards, Dawn asks Wyatt to give them a moment while she talks to Brian. Brian puts Meret on the phone, and Dawn reassures Meret. After she hangs up, Brian confirms that Meret has figured out what has happened.

When asked, Meret admits to Brian that she slept with Wyatt and that she never stopped loving him. Brian announces that he’s going back to Boston, since it’s clear that she wants to be with Wyatt. Brian also notes that “you were coming back to me, when the plane crashed, you just don’t know it yet.”

Dawn recognizes that Brian is giving her space to make her own choice about what she wants. As Wyatt cares for her as she heals, she wonders if Wyatt would be the type of person that would do something like that. Dawn reminds Wyatt that he has a fiancé, but Wyatt casually says that he’ll call it off.

After four days, Dawn is cleared to fly back to Boston. She and Wyatt fly together, with him booking a hotel when he they get there. Wyatt brings Dawn home, and Wyatt worries she won’t come back to him.

Brian is happy to see her, but they soon start arguing. Brian accuses Dawn of abandoning Meret right after she had just learned very upsetting news. Dawn apologizes, but also defends herself by saying it was something she needed to do after spending so much time putting everyone else’s needs before hers. But Brian is angry with himself too, feeling as if he’s manifested the plane crash by wishing ill upon her after she’d ditched him and Meret to chase Wyatt in Egypt.

Afterwards, Dawn talks to Meret and explains what happened. She tells her about Wyatt, and Meret agrees to meet Wyatt.

When Wyatt shows up, Meret gives Wyatt a quick rundown of the things she likes, and she mentions wanting a Bernese Mountain dog. She bristles when he offers to be a father to her (which she does not want to hear, since Brian is her father) and says that she doesn’t think she has much in common with him.

Then, Wyatt pulls out a picture. He means for her to see the Bernese Mountain dog he had as a child, but Meret notices how Wyatt was chubbier as a child. It seems to give her some sense of where she came from. Meret then mentions having started playing tennis, and Wyatt says that he was good at tennis growing up. Eventually Brian comes outside, stiffly, and Meret goes to bed. That night, Dawn sleep separately in her office, but she has a nightmare about the plane crash and wakes up to Brian holding her.

When Dawn goes in to see Kieran for a CT scan, he meets Wyatt. The day after, Wyatt goes by to visit Meret again, and she says she wants to visit Egypt. As Wyatt and Meret get to know each other, Dawn gets an e-mail from Abigail, letting her know that Win is still alive and seems to be waiting for her to come back. Dawn immediately gets up to leave, leaving Wyatt to watch Meret.

At Win’s house, she is alive but unresponsive. Abigail is there, too. As Felix goes to fix coffee, Dawn tells Win that she saw Thane, that has a family and that seems to be doing well. She admits that she did not give him the letter, and she hopes that Win can forgive her. As Dawn comforts Win by telling her about her own near-death experience, Win seems ready to let go. Felix says a few final words to her, and Win exhales her last breath. Afterwards, seeing Dawn’s post-surgery state, Abigail offers to take care of Felix. When Dawn gets home, Brian, Wyatt and Meret are together eating pizza, to her surprise. As they talk about Meret’s tennis matches, Brian makes an excuse not to got to the next one, and Dawn recognizes that it’s in order to let her and Wyatt attend instead. Later, Wyatt admits to Dawn that he recognizes that Brian is a good person.

After Win’s obituary is printed, Dawn cuts it out and mails it to Thane. Meret takes Dawn to get a haircut that’s suitable for her post-surgery cut, and then gets a haircut to match. Now that Dawn has been back in Boston a full week, Meret and Wyatt both want to know what her plan is.

The book ends with Dawn thinking that “Maybe this is all love is: twin routes of pain and pleasure. Maybe the miracle isn’t where we wind up, but that we get there at all.” Then, she opens her mouth to speak.

Share this post

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 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, her beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula, where she helps ease the transition between life and death for patients in hospice.

But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a job she 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 the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers transportation wherever they want to go. The obvious option for Dawn is to continue down the path she is on and go home to her family. The other is to 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 beside 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?

She’s Not Sorry

The Seven Year Slip

Darling Girls

Yours Truly

The Coworker

Best Literary Fiction of 2024 (New & Anticipated)

The Housemaid Series Recap

2024’s Best Book Club Books (New & Anticipated)

Bookshelf: Development Diary

Best Rom-Com, Beach Reads & Contemporary Romance Books

Share your thoughts Cancel reply

Did not like this book. Two many people in this story all with issues. Dawn went to Egypt, knowing she would meet Wyatt and resume their sexual relationship. Did not like Dawn. Tired of reading about her clients. At the end, did she choose Brian or Wyatt? Liked some parts of ancient Egypt, however names confusing.

Fantastic book — a story that will stay with me. I loved how the concepts in Dawn’s research and her husband Brian’s both played into the story line. Picoult is masterful in building a story and revealing I insights into each characters.

Did not like all the Egyptian terminology etc although it is educational…Did not like not knowing who she chose at the end?

• [email protected]
• Mon - Sun: 24/7/365

The Book Of Two Ways By Jodi Picoult – Our Review

July 27, 2022

By: Jasmine Edwards

A powerful novel about the choices that alter the course of our lives, The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult has been a book we’ve been wanting to read since it came out! Check out our review on this must-read novel right now!

The Book Of Two Ways

Full official synopsis, detailed description, what is the book of two ways by jodi picoult about, who writes like jodi picoult, what is jodi picoult’s latest book called, what was jodi picoult’s first book.

Prepare for a crash landing, the flight attendant tells the plane. Dawn Edelstein braces herself and the thoughts rushing through are not of her husband, but of a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong. Dawn survives miraculously and could return to her husband and daughter. But is that the life she wants to live? Should she instead go to Egypt and find Wyatt?

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?

In the very first chapter Dawn Edelstein finds herself plummeting towards earth in a plane crash. Miraculously she is one of the very few survivors. In the aftermath of the crash Dawn finds herself not thinking of her husband, Brian but of Wyatt, a long ago lost love. After she has received medical attention the airline staff ask her where she needs to go. Not where she wants to go. Dawn wonders if she should go home to her husband and daughter, Meret or to find Wyatt.

This is where the story splits into two timelines.

In one timeline “Water/Boston” she returns home to her husband and daughter. Dawn works as a death doula, this is someone who helps people make the journey towards death, dealing with any requests that a person may have in their final months, weeks or days to help them on their transition to death. She is married to Brian, a professor at Yale and they have one teenage daughter, Meret. There is some friction in the marriage as Brian had been spending time with Gita, a post graduate. Although he insists that nothing happened between them Dawn still has doubts and is angry that Brian missed their daughter’s birthday dinner when he was with Gita and didn’t answer the messages that she sent him.

In the second timeline “Land/Egypt” Dawn returns to Egypt. Before she met and married Brian Dawn was working after she had graduated from Yale and was pursuing a career in Egyptology. It was there that she met Wyatt and the two had begun an affair. When she was younger Dawn had to leave Egypt abruptly when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. After he mother’s death she became the guardian for her younger brother so never returned to Egypt.

But in the Land/Egypt timeline Dawn returns and reconnects with Wyatt, who is now working as Director of Egyptology at Yale and is working on unearthing a previously undiscovered tomb. Wyatt agrees to let Dawn stay and help out while she continues her work on “The Book Of Two Ways”, which was her research project until she had to leave. The Book Of Two Ways is an ancient Egyptian coffin text which includes a map that shows the two paths a person can take in the afterlife. On the dig the tomb is unearthed fully intact, with the earliest version of The Books Of Two Ways ever discovered inside.

In the “Water/Boston” timeline Dawn and Brian are working on their marriage, with Brian making an effort to be more considerate. Dawn also tries to support Meret as she goes through teenage insecurities, Meret is a very smart teenager but she has insecurities about her weight and when she goes to summer camp she gets bullied. Eventually when Meret enrolls on a new program she finds a PE teacher who is very supportive to her.

In Egypt Dawn and Wyatt begin to draw closer together once again, which makes Dawn wonder about how her life could have been if she had followed a different timeline.

In Boston Dawn takes on a new client, Win. Win is in her forties but she has terminal cancer, Dawn finds she relates to Win as they are of similar age. Win has a request of Dawn that will lead her to London. But just before Dawn leaves she makes a shock discovery about her own life that could change everything.

What follows is some twists and turns that could turn the world upside down for Dawn, Wyatt, Brian and Meret. Which reality is the right one and Dawn will find that she has some very big choices to make.

Our Review – ★★★★☆

The Book Of Two Ways is not a light read but Jodi Picoult books don’t tend to be anyway. There is plenty of information about Egyptology, which at times can be overwhelming. Jodi Picoult has clearly done her research here and the knowledge is evident but it can tend to bog the story down a bit. Having said that the premise here is very interesting.

The Egyptian Book Of Two Ways is about the two paths that a person can take in the afterlife – the water path or the land path, hence the Water/Boston and Land/Egypt chapters. It is when Dawn herself is faced with death in the plane crash that she begins to consider the two paths that she could have taken in life.

Jodi Picoult does an excellent job at weaving the two time lines together as Dawn considers what could have been but also what could yet be. At its very core this is a romance about Dawn and her lost love Wyatt. It is mired in Egyptology facts that can make the story feel lost at times but if you can wade through all the terminology then there is a very interesting, thought provoking story here.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Book Of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult is about Dawn Edelstein. She is involved in a near death experience when her plane almost crashes. This makes her think about the life that she is living versus the life she could have lived. So it is a book about the choices we make and the paths that these choices then lead us to.

The following authors write similar to Jodi Picoult so if you like Jodi Picoult then you may also like these authors:

• Kristin Hannah
• Nicholas Sparks
• Maeve Binchy
• Sophie Kinsella
• Danielle Steel
• Marian Keyes
• Nora Roberts
• Mary Higgins Clark
• Elin Hilderbrand

Jodi Picoult’s latest book is Wish You Were Here, which was released on November 30 2021. Her next book will be Mad Honey that will be released on October 4 2022.

Jodi Picoult’s first book is Song Of The Humpback Whale. It was released in 1992 and it tells the story of Jane Jones who has lived in the shadow of her husband, renowned San Diego oceanographer Oliver Jones, for years. But during an argument, Jane turns on him and leaves with their teenage daughter, Rebecca, for a cross-country odyssey charted by letters from her brother Joley.

More Stories Everyone Loved:

• Literature & Fiction
• Genre Fiction

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Follow the author

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

The Book of Two Ways: A Novel Hardcover – September 22, 2020

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Print length 432 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Ballantine Books
• Publication date September 22, 2020
• Dimensions 6.4 x 1.38 x 9.53 inches
• ISBN-10 198481835X
• ISBN-13 978-1984818355
• See all details

Frequently bought together

Similar items that may ship from close to you

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com review, about the author, excerpt. © reprinted by permission. all rights reserved., product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ballantine Books; Stated First Edition; First Printing (September 22, 2020)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 198481835X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1984818355
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.55 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1.38 x 9.53 inches
• #2,870 in Family Saga Fiction
• #4,371 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction
• #10,824 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Videos for this product

Click to play video

book of two ways

Penguin Random House LLC

The Book of Two Ways: A Novel

Amazon Videos

About the author

Jodi picoult.

Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-eight novels, including Wish You Were Here, The Book of Two Ways, A Spark of Light, Small Great Things, Leaving Time, and My Sister's Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Picoult lives in New Hampshire.

Her next novel, Mad Honey, co-written with Jennifer Finney Boylan, is available on October 11th.

Follow Jodi Picoult on Intagram, Twitter, and Facebook: @jodipicoult

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Reviews with images

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

Book Club Questions for The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult

This post contains links to products that I may receive compensation from at no additional cost to you. View my Affiliate Disclosure page here .

Book club questions for The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult evaluates all the key storylines and character development in this unique novel. There will be spoilers so for more context about the story, check out my spoiler-free review first.

Okay, so you have read the book, right? If you haven’t and are just bookmarking this page for when your book club meets…don’t read the following section into you’ve read the book! Spoilers about to go down!

Whew, that ending. Agh. Cliffhangers. Sometimes they don’t bother me and other times, they drive me crazy. It seems many people are annoyed that Jodi decided to leave it open-ended about whether Dawn picks an adventure life with Wyatt or continues her comfortable existence with Brian. She said that she had a different ending in mind but changed it. So she knows which life Dawn chooses. Why she didn’t she tell us? Bleh. It didn’t ruin the book for me but I would have liked a more complete ending. I think Dawn is more in love with Wyatt but I do think she has concerns about not being able to be away from her daughter for a long time. However, her daughter is not a child and it isn’t long until college (so to speak) so I still lean a bit toward Wyatt over Brian. Let me know who you think she picked!

The synopsis

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?

Book Club Questions for The Book of Two Ways

• Why do you think Jodi used the title The Book of Two Ways ? In what ways does the title have multiple meanings?
• So we’re lead to believe for a majority of the book that Dawn is almost in a multiverse situation—one where she chooses to go back home to her family and the other, where she goes to Egypt to reconnect with her work and Wyatt. First, which storyline were you most engaged with and why?
• Have you ever made a pivotal choice in your life and wondered what if you had made a different choice?
• If you somehow had a choice like Dawn to be able to reconnect with your past, in the present, would you do so?
• Why do you think Dawn couldn’t let go of Egypt and Wyatt?
• The author provides a ton of detail about Egyptology—did you like how in-depth she went or was it a bit much for you? And on that note, would you ever want to go to Egypt?
• Did you know about death doulas prior to reading the story?
• A central theme of the story is death—from Dawn’s research in Egyptian history to her work as a death doula. Why do you think Dawn was drawn to this area?
• Let’s talk about Dawn’s relationship with Brian. Was she ever in love with him or was he more there to provide comfort and stability?
• Were you surprised at the reveal that Wyatt is actually the father of her daughter Meret?
• And this is where we find out there aren’t multiverses happening but the story is told out of order—after the reveal of Meret’s paternity, Dawn eventually ends up in Egypt, which is the Egypt storyline we’ve been following the entire time. Did this reveal catch you off guard or could you tell where the story was going all along?
• Ending time! So let’s first talk about our thoughts on why the author left the ending a cliffhanger.
• Now, who and which life, do you think Dawn chose in the end and why? Is she better suited for Wyatt or Brian?

More recommendations

Hope you enjoyed book club questions for The Book of Two Ways ! Here are some more recommendations along with links to book club questions.

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

Another book that focuses on the what if concept is Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld. This one, follows Hillary Rodham’s life if she never married Bill Clinton.

In 1971, Hillary Rodham is a young woman full of promise:  Life  magazine has covered her Wellesley commencement speech, she’s attending Yale Law School, and she’s on the forefront of student activism and the women’s rights movement. And then she meets Bill Clinton. A handsome, charismatic southerner and fellow law student, Bill is already planning his political career. In each other, the two find a profound intellectual, emotional, and physical connection that neither has previously experienced.   In the real world, Hillary followed Bill back to Arkansas, and he proposed several times; although she said no more than once, as we all know, she eventually accepted and became Hillary Clinton.   But in Curtis Sittenfeld’s powerfully imagined tour-de-force of fiction, Hillary takes a different road. Feeling doubt about the prospective marriage, she endures their devastating breakup and leaves Arkansas. Over the next four decades, she blazes her own trail—one that unfolds in public as well as in private, that involves crossing paths again (and again) with Bill Clinton, that raises questions about the tradeoffs all of us must make in building a life.   Brilliantly weaving a riveting fictional tale into actual historical events, Curtis Sittenfeld delivers an uncannily astute and witty story for our times. In exploring the loneliness, moral ambivalence, and iron determination that characterize the quest for political power, as well as both the exhilaration and painful compromises demanded of female ambition in a world still run mostly by men,  Rodham  is a singular and unforgettable novel.

You can order the book on Amazon here . Check out my book club questions here .

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle is another story that evaluates choice and fate.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Dannie Kohan lives her life by the numbers.

She is nothing like her lifelong best friend—the wild, whimsical, believes-in-fate Bella. Her meticulous planning seems to have paid off after she nails the most important job interview of her career and accepts her boyfriend’s marriage proposal in one fell swoop, falling asleep completely content.

But when she awakens, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. Dannie spends one hour exactly five years in the future before she wakes again in her own home on the brink of midnight—but it is one hour she cannot shake.  In Five Years  is an unforgettable love story, but it is not the one you’re expecting.

Happy reading!

You May Also Like

Sheila Howlett

Sunday 18th of July 2021

Just Maybe there is another book for the author to write at some later stage to follow through and conclude??. Who knows??

Heather Caliendo

Monday 19th of July 2021

Oh I hope so!! I wonder if they make a TV or movie version — if they will have a proper ending?

Banana Oliphant

Friday 18th of June 2021

Hi Heather,

thank you for your great review. This book was such an unexpected find for me. So far, I have not read any of Picoult`s novels. It sat on my “to read” shelf for ever until I picked it up yesterday on a whim and I just could not put it down- I read until 4 in the morning when the birds outside my window where starting to chirp again and the ending left me a bit perplexed and then a bit angry with the author.

However, this morning when I woke up, I had changed my opinion and I think it is a stroke of brilliance to leave it to the reader to decide. First, I looooove books that keep you thinking about plots and arcs well after you have read the last page. Second, books belong to their readers. A good book might entertain you for a couple of hours, serve as a welcome distraction or send you to places that you have never known and been. But a brilliant book, and this is one, teaches you something about life and/ or about yourself.

In the end to me the question is not whom Dawn chooses but who you, the reader, would choose? What do you want from life? Do you want a love that consumes you? Do you want someone that shares your passion? Or do you want someone who is pragmatic, loyal and caring? The answer to this will likely not only depend on your personality but also on where you are at in life. I can see myself revisiting this book ever couple of years and maybe even changing my answer.

Based on my personal perspective and the way I perceive Dawn as a character, I would like to believe that in the end it is not so much about which man she chooses to be with rather than about whether she chooses herself. We get to know her as someone who has consistently prioritized other people`s needs and I believe that has stifled a bit of what is at the core of her being. She chooses to leave her dream job next to a man whom she is immensely attracted to right after she has a personal and a professional breakthrough in order to be by her dying mother`s side. After her mother dies, she severs contact with what I think is her soulmate because deep down she knows that she would choose Wyatt any day over her family. Pretending like Wyatt never even existed is the only way for her to do what she believes is right and her duty - be there for her brother and help him through these emotionally and financially challenging times. Walking away from Wyatt is hard the first time already when she goes to be with her mother, and I believe it would be impossible to do it a second time. Not only is she leaving behind her soulmate, but she is leaving behind what turns out to be the discovery of the century in the field she is passionate about. This only works because she compartmentalizes and pretends like Wyatt does not even exist. This is how fiercely loyal and selfless she is. When she seeks out solace and company in the arms of a man who is basically a stranger to her, she is in a very vulnerable position. Her dreams and aspirations are shattered, she is grieving for a mother whom she clearly loved very much and she is very lonely in a role as caregiver and head of the household. This is a role for which she is not prepared at all and which she takes on because she feels duty bound. That must have been utterly devastating. And in this moment of darkness there is Brian, a caring, loyal, wonderful man who extends a hand to her. Of course, she is bound to love him for who he is as person, he is very lovable, and she needs him to fill the void in her life. When she finally finds out she is pregnant she truly believes that the child is Brian`s (who by the way is probably infertile since they do not succeed in conceiving another child). That is what she must believe in order to stay sane. This child fixes her in a way, it is like the last piece of jigsaw puzzle that makes the picture complete. Meret turns what is a very fragile and messed up situation into something which has an order. They become a family, the child stabilizes the relationship she started on a whim and out of loneliness. The mere thought that she could be an omnipresent eternal reminder of all that she lost when she left Egypt is so devastating that her mind protects her from even considering this option. She truly does not know because she would not be able to cope with this living, breathing reminder of her passion for Wyatt. Meret is her reassurance that she will never be alone. It makes Brian and her a team and they are a good one when it comes to supporting each other and being loving parents. They love and cherish each other. Yet, there is something missing. She NEEDS Brian and he makes her a better mother and sister, a good wife but what she really WANTS is Wyatt with whom she can be truly herself and unashamedly pursue her passion. He loves her for who she is and not for who she is when she is with him. Wyatt accepts her and understands her in a way that gentle Brian never could. That is why, in the end, when all the people she loves and cares for no longer depend on her, she finally gets to choose what is best for her. So se chooses what she has wanted all along: Wyatt, her soulmate. I would like to believe that they return to Egypt together and that Dawn finishes her passion project, the dissertation on the iconography of the Book of two Ways and that Dawn and Wyatt go on to be an unstoppable duo in the field of Egyptology who maximized each other`s brilliance by bouncing ideas off each other. Finally Dawn can be who she was always meant to be. We also have to keep in mind that Meret is 14 now, wise beyond her age and has a loving father with whom she shares a strong bond to support her until she goes to college once she turns 18. Maybe Brian even makes things work with Gita who is likely to care more about his work than Dawn ever did (not out of spite, just because the interest of lay people has limits). Do you feel like that makes sense or would she be unable to leave Meret in the US while working in Egypt?

Saturday 26th of June 2021

Hi there, thank you for such a thoughtful and insightful response! I totally feel the same way—frustration with how it ended but then also realizing it's interesting and gives the reader the freedom to choose. I also think she chose Wyatt in the end, especially since Meret is 14. If Meret was younger, I'm not sure she would have made that choice. I do wonder if the author will ever tell us what she thinks!

• Biggest New Books
• Non-Fiction
• All Categories
• First Readers Club Daily Giveaway
• How It Works

Get the Book Marks Bulletin

Email address:

• Categories Fiction Fantasy Graphic Novels Historical Horror Literary Literature in Translation Mystery, Crime, & Thriller Poetry Romance Speculative Story Collections Non-Fiction Art Biography Criticism Culture Essays Film & TV Graphic Nonfiction Health History Investigative Journalism Memoir Music Nature Politics Religion Science Social Sciences Sports Technology Travel True Crime

May 14, 2024

• Jacob Silverman revisits Computer Power and Human Reason
• A firsthand account of the The Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia
• John McPhee muses on proofreading and Wordle

The Five Biggest Ways 'Dune: Part Two' Changes The Book

This story contains spoilers for Dune: Part Two .

May thy knife chip and shatter! With these words, Timothée Chalamet has brought to life perhaps the most faithful cinematic version of Paul Muad'dib Usul Atriedes, Duke of Arrakis, who first appeared in the pages of Analog magazine in 1963 as part of a serialized novel called “Dune World.” Published in 1965 in one volume as Dune , Frank Herbert’s visionary book is synonymous with classic science fiction. It’s also considered one of the most politically savvy and complex novels of all time.

In 2021, Denis Villeneuve’s big-screen adaptation Dune: Part One stopped roughly halfway through the book, just after Paul defeats Jamis (Babs Olusanmokun). If you’re using the current Kindle edition of the book , this means that Dune: Part One stopped around page 495 out of 883. But because Dune’s appendices take up about 80 pages, that means Dune: Part Two is really only adapting about 300 pages of actual story, versus the nearly 500 pages Part One covered in 2021.

So, just how faithful is Part Two to these roughly 300 pages? The short answer is this: Dune: Part Two is somewhat faithful to the original novel, but decidedly less so than Part One . In the most general sense, Part Two replicates the tone, message, and basic events of the novel, certainly more so than the 1984 Dune . But the sand devil is in the details. And in these details, Dune: Part Two deviates from the novel in more than a few surprising ways. Leaving aside very minor changes, here are five massive differences between Dune: Part Two and the novel Dune .

The “North” and “South” Fremen split

From the very beginning of the movie, it’s made clear that some Fremen are less religious than others, and that a huge mass of “Southern Fundamentalists” will become fanatical followers of Paul once he embraces the mantle of the “Messiah.” The word “fundamentalist” does not ever appear in the text of Dune , and the idea that Paul will tap into religious fanatics in the South is something basically invented for the movie.

However, this is more of a logistical change than a thematic change. Both in the movie and in the book, Paul and Jessica are aware that the Bene Gesserit’s Missionaria Protectiva project planted religious prophecies on Arrakis centuries prior, mostly to help out-wolders and elites exactly like Paul and Jessica. What makes the film different is the way this plays out. The result — that Paul has an army of fanatics at his side — is the same in both the film and book. But, the idea that Chani views Stilgar as a “Southerner” obsessed with religion is not in the book at all.

Chani’s Path

Speaking of Zendaya’s excellent turn as Chani, this character is by far the most changed from her book counterpart. Throughout Dune: Part Two , Chani makes it clear that she views the prophecy of the “Lisan al Gaib” as a bad thing, and a way for the Fremen to be further enslaved. In the book, Chani stands by Paul’s side and supports him in everything, even when he decides to marry Princess Irulan for political convenience.

In the film, Chani spends half of the movie falling in love with Paul and the other half utterly furious with him. One key change eliminates her first pregnancy: in Dune: Part Two , she never gets pregnant with hers and Paul’s first child, Leto II, the elder. In the book, she and Paul have this son, and he’s killed during a Sardaukar attack. At the end of the next book in Herbert’s series, Dune Messiah , Chani has twins: a girl named Ghanima and a boy, who they also call Leto II. Dune: Part Two avoids giving us the first Leto II altogether. Of the three filmed versions of Dune , the only one to date that has depicted Paul and Chani’s first child (and his tragic death) is the 2000 Sci-Fi Channel miniseries, Frank Herbert’s Dune .

One Year Instead of Three

In the book, more time passes than in the film—roughly three years total. Here, everything that happens in Part Two occurs in the same year as Part One , the year 10191. We know this is the case because Princess Irulan’s diary says it’s the same year. This fact also speeds up some of Paul’s integration into the Fremen and changes just how long Gurney has been out there in the desert working with smugglers. In essence, what took several years to build up in the book happens over the course of a few months in the new movie. Chani jokes about Paul not surviving “the summer,” which makes it seem like most of this movie actually takes place over that much shorter period of time.

Because Dune: Part Two truncates the timeline of the first book, this leads to an even bigger change in the overall narrative: Alia isn’t born in this movie. In the book, Alia is born during the time Paul and Jessica are living in the deep desert with the Fremen. Because Jessica takes the Water of Life while pregnant, Alia becomes “preborn” with all the memories of her ancestors present the second she comes out of the womb. But in Dune: Part Two , we don’t see baby Alia emerge, and instead, Jessica talks to her unborn daughter in hushed tones. Only at the end do we hear Alia’s voice in Jessica’s head, when she says, “What is happening, Mother?”

In another change from the book, Paul meets an adult Alia in a vision of the future. Here, Alia is played by Anya Taylor-Joy, who warns Paul of the hardships that are yet to come. This very brief cameo further alters the original novel because it seems to depict a version of Alia well beyond the events of Dune Messiah , closer to the age Alia would be in the third book, Children of Dune . Up until this point, the only other actress to play Alia as an adult was Daniela Amavia in the 2003 miniseries Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune .

All of this also means that Dune: Part Two is the first adaptation of the first novel that doesn’t depict Alia as a precious, all-knowing toddler. In the 1984 adaptation, the child Alia was played by Alicia Witt, and in the 2000 version, by Laura Burton. In the new film, by ending the story before Alia is born, one of the more memorable and outlandish aspects of the original novel has been omitted.

Paul Kills the Baron

Keeping Alia in the womb for the entire movie also directly impacts the end of the movie in one massive way. Throughout the text of Dune , Princess Irulan’s epigraphs refer to her as “Saint. Alia of the Knife.” This is partially because she’s a great knife-fighter as an adult, but also because as a child, Alia is the one who kills the Baron Harkonnen. On page 753, Alia stabs the Baron and says, “I’m sorry Grandfather… you’ve met the Atreides gom jabbar.”

The gom jabbar, of course, is the poison needle that was held at Paul’s neck by Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam at the start of the first book, and also in Dune: Part One . In Dune: Part Two, thanks to the vision of the Water of Life, Paul learns from the future Alia that the Baron is his grandfather. In the book, he’s aware of this much earlier, but in the movie, it’s Paul who kills his grandfather instead of Alia. When Paul twists the knife, he says, “You die like an animal.” This references the test that the Reverend Mother gave him in Part One , implying that Paul’s instincts were human. And yet, this brutal version of Paul, at this exact moment, is somewhat new for the film.

Overall, Denis Villeneuve preserves the spirit of Frank Herbert’s message, because Dune: Part Two makes it painfully clear that Paul’s ascendency to power will result in an even worse state of affairs for the galaxy. In 2021, Villeneuve said : “I think Herbert wrote it as a warning, [against] leaders that pretend to know what will happen, who pretend to know the truth, who might be lacking humility.” By changing many of the details of the plot of the novel Dune , Villeneuve has, paradoxically, preserved that message to the point where there’s no possible way anyone could misinterpret the journey of Paul Atreides. In the end, Dune: Part Two presents the anti-hero’s journey, which, in the broadest sense, is faithful to the novel that was published almost sixty years ago.