Advance review: Jacquelyn Mitchard's No Time to Wave Goodbye

By Julie

In June, I was thrilled when Jacquelyn Mitchard selected me to be an early reader for No Time to Wave Goodbye, a sequel to The Deep End of the Ocean, Mitchard's bestselling debut novel and Oprah Winfrey's first book club selection, later brought to life on the big screen.

We were also lucky enough to have Jackie stop by What Women Write for an interview with Pamela in July. As promised then, I'm posting an early review of No Time to Wave Goodbye.

I received my copy in July and couldn't wait to jump right in, but decided to revisit Deep End first. It had been nearly 15 years since I read it. I found a copy at my local library and took my time reading, enjoying the second time even more as I explored the story from a writer's perspective.

The level of detail and layering in Deep End is much more noticeable to me now, and the suspense wasn't any less, even knowing how the book ends. I remembered the main plot points, but was surprised at how much my brain (weary from raising three children!) had forgotten. I highly recommend you read it again, too, or read it for the first time.

On the other hand, No Time to Wave Goodbye could probably stand on its own. It's hard for me to say considering my recent re-acquaintance with Beth, Pat, Vincent, Ben/Sam, and Kerry Cappadora.

What I can say, without hesitation, is I was unable to let this new story rest. I couldn't wait to get my hands back on it no matter how I was distracted by the responsibilities of my own life. No Time to Wave Goodbye is a relatively short read, coming in at 240 pages, maybe half the length of Deep End. I've been a slow reader this year, but I polished it off in less than two days after only a few sittings.

Mitchard brings the reader up to speed on the lives of the Cappadoras and various beloved Deep End characters, revisiting their emotional fallout after experiencing the kidnapping and eventual return of a child, while introducing a new supporting cast of other families who lost children through abductions and participated in a documentary filmed by Vincent.

It is especially gratifying to find out how Beth has reinvented her life, how Vincent climbed out of the quagmire that went along with his guilt at losing his younger brother, and how Ben, who still prefers to be called Sam, is also still pulled between the family who lost and found him again and the innocent father created out of his abduction. Mitchard brings the reader along on the Cappadora's continuing journey to make peace with what happened so many years earlier.

If Deep End was suspenseful in a taut, finely drawn way, No Time to Wave Goodbye is a slam to the chest. Once again, Mitchard deals with the subject of child abductions, but this time, pulls the reader alongside the characters in a heart-pounding race against time to save a child. My adrenaline was as elevated as it was last year reading Jackie's most recent release for adults, Still Summer.

I found a twist at the end slightly unsettling, as certain other readers might, but reminded myself that readers and writers bring varied experiences and backgrounds to the table, which affects how we read and write, and Mitchard is no different. This twist, though incidental to the main plot, may bring about some lively discussion for book clubs or other forums, and that isn't a negative thing. It's the rare author who's disappointed when her books create a stir and get readers thinking.

No Time To Wave Goodbye offically goes on sale September 15 and is available for pre-order. That means, if you're so inclined, you have less than a week to get your hands back on Deep End and prepare yourself for another wild ride, compliments of Jackie Mitchard's skillful storytelling.

From the publisher:

New York Times bestselling author Jacquelyn Mitchard captured the heart of a nation with The Deep End of the Ocean, her celebrated debut novel about mother Beth Cappadora, a child kidnapped, a family in crisis.

Now, in No Time to Wave Goodbye, the unforgettable Cappadoras are in peril once again, forced to confront an unimaginable evil.

It has been twenty-two years since Beth Cappadora’s three-year-old son Ben was abducted. By some miracle, he returned nine years later, and the family began to pick up the pieces of their lives. But their peace has always been fragile: Ben returned from the deep end as another child and has never felt entirely at ease with the family he was born into. Now the Cappadora children are grown: Ben is married with a baby girl, Kerry is studying to be an opera singer, and Vincent has emerged from his troubled adolescence as a fledgling filmmaker.

The subject of Vincent’s new documentary, “No Time to Wave Goodbye,” shakes Vincent’s unsuspecting family to the core; it focuses on five families caught in the tortuous web of never knowing the fate of their abducted children. Though Beth tries to stave off the torrent of buried emotions, she is left wondering if she and her family are fated to relive the past forever.
The film earns tremendous acclaim, but just as the Cappadoras are about to celebrate the culmination of Vincent’s artistic success, what Beth fears the most occurs, and the Cappadoras are cast back into the past, revisiting the worst moment of their lives–with only hours to find the truth that can save a life. High in a rugged California mountain range, their rescue becomes a desperate struggle for survival.

No Time to Wave Goodbye is Jacquelyn Mitchard at her best, a spellbinding novel about family loyalty, and love pushed to the limits of endurance.

A visit with Jacquelyn Mitchard

By Pamela


In 1996, I was a mother of two young sons, one four years old, the other nearly two. So when I picked up The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard, I felt a special connection to Beth Cappadora. She, too, was a young mother, trying to keep it all together--work and family and find a little time for herself. When her middle child, Ben, gets abducted from a hotel lobby, my heart felt every tug of anguish at each turn of the page. (Magnified by the fact that my baby was also named Ben.) The book stayed with me for months, even years, after I read it. Any time one of my boys slipped his hand from mine in a store to hide inside a rack of clothes, or wandered off without my noticing, I felt Beth’s panic.

I remained a fan of Jacquelyn Mitchard’s writing over the years and recently connected with her on Facebook (along with a small army of others). When I read she was bringing Beth and her family back to life between the pages of a new book, I leaped at the chance to find out more. Ms. Mitchard graciously agreed to answer some questions for our blog readers, and I know you’ll enjoy learning more about her here.


I have a confession to make. I pulled The Deep End of the Ocean from my shelf, fully intending to skim through it before No Time to Wave Goodbye comes out. But I found myself drawn back into the story of the Cappadoras and the lovely writing and couldn’t skip a word. Now, with this new release, we get to revisit the family after all these years. Why did you wait a dozen years before returning to this book?

It was sheer cowardice and the fear of someone saying that a “sequel” was the last resort of a scoundrel. In fact, I wrote entirely another book that someday will be published. But it is true that one day, I realized that I knew the answer to the question that people had been asking me, which was, “What ever happened to Vincent?” And then my challenge was to write a story that could stand beside that story in terms of power and also incorporate what I’d learned over writing a dozen other novels. When a reviewer wrote to me before the review was published to tell me that the book had blown him away, I knew that I had succeeded. And then I made a nutty choice--which I love.

I decided that my next book would be drawn from this universe, and that I would write as many “West Side stories” as I felt like writing, along with stand-alone novels. Louise Erdrich has gone back and forth between writing the continuing story of a certain Ojbiway clan--as well as other books such as The Antelope Wife and The Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse. Faulkner returned to the universe he had created. (I’m not comparing myself). But the exhilaration I felt was unexpected. It took five rewrites to be sure, but I’m sure it’s good. It’s not a “series.” It’s a universe in which this family will be part of a community in which the Cappadoras take a greater or lesser part.


I love it when authors take this approach. Because you can fall in love with a story and, even though the book ends, you don’t grieve as much since they’ll return to you. How many books do you have planned for this universe?

Well, we are in the process of trying to adopt two kids from Ethiopia – which means six more kids to put through college--so at least 234. Or until I’m 83, whichever comes first.


Lucky for us; more to read! The success you achieved with your debut novel plays out nearly like a fairytale—amazing sales, a nod from Oprah, a movie deal. Obviously, it was life changing for you. Did you worry that your future novels would not measure up? Any astute advice for aspiring novelists out there?

Yes, and they did not. Critically--yes. Many of them outshined The Deep End of the Ocean. But in terms of sales (millions worldwide, 3 million in the U.S.) not so much. I did myself a disservice by changing publishers, which I will do again only if Random House hatches a plan to shoot my dogs.


Let’s hope that doesn’t happen! Promoting this book certainly must be different for you than your first. In addition to your Web site, I know you use Facebook to stay in touch with your readers. Do you find any one method more effective than others in reaching your audience? Will you do a book tour? Any word from Oprah?

No word from Oprah. But it’s July. Oprah? Hello? Facebook is amazing. I’m learning to Twitter like a birdie and the download email of the “presenter” is going to be amazing for this book--short and hugely exciting.


We’ll look forward to that. On the flipside, the electronic age has made a difference in reviewing opportunities too. The adage that everyone’s a critic certainly applies now more than ever. How do you handle negative reviews on Amazon or other sites? Do you find it best to not respond? (I’m thinking of the recent Twitter debacle with Alice Hoffman.)

I try not to read reviews but I end up reading them--of course. And I learn from the negative ones. In all the vitriol, there’s a grain of caution and wisdom, almost without exception. I can think of only one truly nutso bad review, in which a reviewer castigated me for using food as a metaphor for sex--without which device every one of Ernest Hemingway’s novels would have been a pamphlet.

I love Alice Hoffman, as a human being and as a writer. A great lady, she had a bad day. I would never respond to any review or accusation – with a single exception. A writer for a local newspaper once made bold to enumerate and describe my children, including their best guesses about which ones were “really mine.” I went completely bonkers. I asked the newspaper never to review my work again, never to write about me again, in a complimentary way or a negative way.


I can’t imagine someone being so completely unprofessional in their job. I’m glad you took a stand. Speaking of other print media, I enjoy coming across articles by you in Readers’ Digest, Wondertime and Good Housekeeping, to name a few. Plus you’ve successfully published in various genres including young adult and picture books for children and essays that appear in numerous anthologies. Any plans for a non-fiction solo title? Perhaps a guide to life, parenting or a book on writing? (Personally, I vote for the latter.)

Oh my gosh, I would never attempt to advise anyone on parenthood beyond loading lives with laughter, books, organic groceries and the occasional antibiotic. And I discourage my own students from reading “writing books,” the exception being Stephen King’s and Eudora Welty’s because their reading time is so much better spent on the prose of Louise Erdrich and Wallace Stegner and Truman Capote and Charlotte Bronte and Jodi Picoult and Denise Mina and Edgar Doctorow...I have to pause for breath. But I’ll always, always do reportage and personal essays (though not as personal as, for example, Joyce Maynard’s! My family demands and deserves more privacy than that!)

I love the real word sense and the economy of language. I’d also love to write more children’s books (I have an idea about a ferret that gets trapped in a store filled with mink collars and scarves…) and definitely more YA books. In fact, I would say that All We Know of Heaven, a YA novel about two best friends mis-identified in the aftermath of a motor vehicle accident, is the best book I’ve ever written.


That’s one I haven’t read but now you’ve sold me. And we’ll watch for the ferret story. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with our readers.


And now, readers, if you’d like to leave a comment, we’ll enter you in a drawing for a first-edition hardback of No Time to Wave Goodbye. But hurry; we’ll only take entries from people who comment before midnight on Thursday, July 30, so check back on Friday to see if you’ve won. Everyone who comments has an equal chance of winning, but be sure that your comment links us to contact info for you. Otherwise you'll need to include your email address with your comment or contact us at wwwtx6 (at) yahoo (dot) com. Also, unless you're willing to spring for postage, winner must live in the U.S. One of my kids and possibly the dog will be the witness to said drawing. You’ll have to trust us to be fair. At least the dog has never cheated at anything. I take that back--he’s constantly getting caught sleeping on the good sofa.

If you don’t win the book, watch for its release on September 15. Pre-order your copy today through Amazon.com. And be sure to look for Julie's review of No Time to Wave Goodbye here in late August.


UPDATE: The winner of No Time to Wave Goodbye, from those who commented, is Jennifer Ivy. Congratulations!

(Ms. Mitchard's photo by Liane R. Harrison)