Where There's Smoke: A Short Story

By Jodi Picoult

Bestselling author Jodi Picoult is a masterful storyteller, who “writes with a fine touch, a sharp eye for detail, and a firm grasp of the delicacy and complexity of human relationships” (The Boston Globe). Now, in this original short story, available exclusively as an eBook, Picoult introduces Serenity Jones, one of the fascinating characters from her eagerly awaited new novel, Leaving Time.
 
Even as a child, Serenity Jones knew she possessed unusual psychic gifts. Now, decades later, she’s an acclaimed medium and host of her own widely viewed TV show, where she delivers messages to the living from loved ones who have passed. Lately, though, her efforts to boost ratings and garner fame have compromised her clairvoyant instincts. When Serenity books a young war widow to appear as a guest, the episode quickly unravels, stirring up a troubling controversy. And as she tries to undo the damage—to both her reputation and her show—Serenity finds that pride comes at a high price.
 
Praise for Jodi Picoult
 
“Picoult is a rare writer who delivers, book after book, a winning combination of the literary and the commercial.”—Entertainment Weekly
 
“Picoult is a solid, lively storyteller.”—The New York Times
 
“If Picoult were a general, she would be Patton; if a sports franchise, the New York Yankees; if a natural phenomenon, the sunrise.”—Tampa Tribune

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: May 19, 2014
• ISBN: 9780804180795

Jodi Picoult

JODI PICOULT is ’n gewilde en geliefde skrywer van etlike topverkopers, waaronder My Sister’s Keeper, The Storyteller en Small Great Things. Sowat 40 miljoen eksemplare van haar boeke is tans wêreldwyd in druk. Twee van haar boeke is al in Afrikaans vertaal – Die Belydenis (Plain Truth) en Negentien Minute (Nineteen Minutes). Meer as 25 romans het al uit haar pen verskyn en haar werk is al in 34 tale vertaal. My Sister’s Keepers is ook in ’n rolprent omskep. Picoult is al verskeie kere bekroon, onder meer met die New England Book Award.

Book preview

Where There’s Smoke is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

2014 Ballantine eBook Edition

Copyright © 2014 by Jodi Picoult

Excerpt of Leaving Time copyright © 2014 by Jodi Picoult.

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.

BALLANTINE and the HOUSE colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.

This eBook contains an excerpt from the forthcoming book Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition.

eBook ISBN: 978-0-8041-8079-5

www.ballantinebooks.com

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Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Where There’s Smoke

Other Books by This Author

About the Author

Excerpt from Leaving Time

SERENITY, 1993

When I was four years old, I kept telling my mother that the little boy in our house was stealing things. I should preface this by saying I was an only child—a precocious one at that. I also said I was going to live on the moon, invent glow-in-the-dark hair extensions, and marry Donny Osmond—so I understand why my mother didn’t believe me when I blamed an imaginary kid for my missing Barbie doll or the enamel snuffbox she’d inherited from her grandfather, which had up and vanished. As I recall, I may even have gotten a spanking for telling tales, when I knew damn well what I was saying was true.

Which was why, one day, when I peeked into my room and saw the boy—rifling through my bureau this time, his back to me—I tiptoed down the hall and dragged my mother to see with her own eyes.

I pointed through the open doorway at the boy. He was maybe six or seven, and he wasn’t dressed like me or any other kid I knew. He wore pants that ended at the knees and that seemed to be made out of the same black velvet as our Elvis painting in the living room; he had a lacy collar around his neck that would have gotten him teased for being a sissy if he set foot in my preschool class. Hey, I cried out, just as he pulled from the drawer a headband with pink daisies glued onto it, which happened to be my favorite.

His head whipped around. He looked me right in the eye. And then, when I blinked, he was gone.

"I told you so," I said to my mother, but she wasn’t looking at the spot where the little boy had been. She was staring, wide-eyed, at me.

If this had been today, not the early seventies, I would probably have been shuttled off to a child psychiatrist and given some kick-ass medication. But my mother, who had the psychic ability God gave a sea cucumber, still was able to recognize what she had witnessed before in her own great-grandma, an Iroquois healer who had predicted the date and manner of death for every man she had ever courted. Serenity, she said, grasping my shoulders. That boy’s not real.

I just laughed at her. "He is to me," I said.

That is how I sum up my career as a psychic. Just because you can’t see something doesn’t

[muumuumousie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

2.5 stars

Interesting characters, but not a lot of substance. The story doesn’t go anywhere. The ambiguity is present to such an extent that it ceases being interesting and simply settles for being vague. There’s also quite a bit of weird stuff that seems thrown in just for the sake of weirdness, and it didn’t seem to fit well in the story. This tale felt a little pretentious to me, like it was trying too hard to be impressive. I didn’t know anything about this story when I borrowed it from the library, but I learned after I read it that its main character is featured in a full-length novel. Perhaps it isn’t fair to judge the story by itself; it may make more sense in context of the larger novel. However, my thinking is that if it’s published by itself, it ought to be solid enough to make sense on its own. This tale sets up some interesting characters, and I enjoyed that, but they don’t do much, and it ends abruptly. I had expected more from Ms. Picoult.

[radiojen · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Too short to really tell the story

I'm a fan of Picoult's & a fan of short stories, but neither did me any favors this time. I was very interested at the beginning of the story, and feel like if that were the only angle taken, it may have been enough. But including the second storyline just didn't work for me. It felt like it ended too abruptly and was not a very satisfying conclusion. It almost feels like a high school creative writing student penned this one.

[maydacat_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Jodi Picoult is a renowned author, but this short story does not showcase her talents. This introduction to the psychic character Serenity and the abrupt ending to the story leave much to be desired.

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is a prequel to Jodi Picoult's next book, Leaving Time. Serenity Jones could see people that were not there even as a young child. She had a gift to see and/or speak with spirits. As she grew she worked various jobs using her gift until she finally landed her own television show. Using her two spirit guides, Lucinda, a refined, elderly African- American woman; and Desmond, a fierce, feisty gay man, Serenity was making quite a name for herself. When she was reprimanded by them for using her gift for herself, not others, she told them to get lost and they did. Her gift basically dried up. When she found a missing boy, her life shattered. The ending shows her alone and bereft in her garden. I am looking forward to seeing what happens to Serenity in the novel.

[angelajmaher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This short story functions as an introduction to a character in another book. Despite this, it's a good little story and gets far deeper than the start of the story might suggest.

[anacskie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What? That's it?

What? I want to know what happen next? That was way too short. I need to know more... Ahhh...I want to
read more...

[mhanover10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love reading Jodi Picoult so even though this is a short story I read it because of her. I don't like short stories because they leave me wanting more. This one is no different. I felt like this was just a chapter of a book, I need to know what is going to happen next. This is different than what she usually writes, very chick-lit fun. Some people might be disappointed that this is from Jodi but I enjoyed it.

[wwdg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A short story introducing a new character 'Serenity' who is a Television psychic. Good character's and good introduction to her new story. Very quick read.

[steeleyjan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Where There's Smoke" is an situational expansion in the life of Serenity, a proferssional psychic that you meet in the novel "Leaving Time" by Jodi Picoult.

You can read it before or after the novel.. there are no spoilers, and this story can stand alone. Reading it after might be the best choice, only because the character Serenity is very strong in the novel, and you will enjoy knowing her in entirety prior to reading this short story.

Whether you read it before or after, don't cheat yourself by missing the novel. It would be my nomination for Audible's book of the year in fiction. Until reading "Leaving Time," if anyone had ever told me that I would have said that about one of Jodi Picoult's novels, I would have said they were crazy.

[xkhuloodx · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a good short story.. I wish there were more details rather than just how her psychic abilities work.. I'm probably going to add the full length novel to my TBR.

[sharn_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Eh. It's Jodi Picoult and I'm not sure what I was expecting because I generally love her and have read enough to know that she's going to need a lot more than 40 pgs. to get a story told. At least I'll have a little background on Serenity when Leaving Time is released in October.