#HollowBones #NetGalley
General-Women’s fiction
464 pages
Four-Five stars
Pub date: 15 September 2026
Description:
from the publisher
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of By Any Other Name comes a riveting novel about the risks we take to protect the ones we love in a world where crisis is always just around the corner.
On September 11, 2001, when Molly Fitzgerald was only two months old, her mother went to an appointment at the World Trade Center and never came home. Her father and the stepmother who raised her couldn’t have loved her more, but she still grew up with a healthy dread of disasters.
Now an adult, she runs the Rhode Island Department for Emergency Preparedness, mapping out ways to save lives during storms, epidemics, and airplane crashes. She and her husband, Jesse—a police polygraph expert with his own history of crisis—have found a love that is a solace in a dangerous world. But then the unexpected upends their new marriage, leading them both to question everything they thought they knew.
Moving between past and present, Hollow Bones is an epic story of the lies we tell ourselves as we write the narratives of our lives, the plans we design to protect ourselves at the worst moments, and the ties that bind mothers and daughters.
My thoughts:
I found Hollow Bones to be a difficult read in many ways. While I don’t often do trigger warnings, see these. Skip if these are not needed as they are spoilers.
READ OR SKIP
9/11; disasters; post-partum depression/psychosis; suicide;religious, cruel, fanatical parent.
BACK TO MY THOUGHTS
Jodi Picoult always/often uses her fiction to highlight issues that have been in the news. For example, she sensitively wrote about a school shooting (Nineteen Minutes), and all aspects of the abortion debate in A Spark of Light. She is a master at this.
As noted above in the read/skip section, she takes on very difficult issues in this book and I admit that I found parts of this book quite painful to read. I kept going because I know that Picoult is an author to trust.
I did very much like getting to know Molly and Jesse. Readers watch as their relationship evolves. They are an interesting couple who, for personal reasons, play a game of imaging the worst things that could happen. Readers will hope for them.
The story of Eloise, Molly’s mother, is told graphically and sympathetically. Readers will come to understand her struggles which were profound.
Around these central figures are Molly’s father, his second wife (Eloise’s best friend) and others. All are well drawn.
Parts of this book were set in Rhode Island, a place that I know well. Clearly the author researched the setting very carefully as it was extremely accurate. I appreciated that, along with the chance to revisit places that I know. For example, Brown, RISD, Roger Williams Park, Hasbro, etc are found here.
Watch for the references to the title in these pages. Hollow Bones are described and help the reader relate to the story. Also, note the cover. Those mosaics also have significance. And just for something else, learn a lot about lie detectors. Finally, be sure to read the author’s note.
As is usual for Picoult this book is one with resonance and one that I will not soon forget.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine for this title. All thoughts are my own.
Post first published on 15 August 2026
What the author told Publishers Weekly:
“…it’s a book about how the past informs the present and the future—so it’s a personal milestone for me. But it’s also a book about the lies we tell ourselves and others, being published at a time when lies are being told by authority figures so frequently that they are being interpreted as facts. In an environment like that, sometimes the only way to get to the truth is through fiction.”
From Kirkus Reviews:
he queen of social activist novels has done it again. Impressive, important, and fun to read.
From the Publisher:
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 