The Daughters of Joy: An Adventure of the Heart FROM THE PUBLISHER
Jess Conover is going about his daily grind as an aspiring writer in Boston when he finds a classified ad in the newspaper he believes is meant specifically for him: Love has found you. Tell no one, just come.
His odyssey takes him to a school run by a group of women who call themselves the Daughters of Joy-and who will open Jess's heart up to a world he never envisioned could exist...
About the Author:Deepak Chopra is one of the world's greatest leaders in the field of mind-body medicine. His writing spans both fiction and nonfiction and has been published in more than thirty-five languages. He is the founder of the Chopra Center for Well Being in Carlsbad, California.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Inspirational guru Chopra proves, as he did with previous fictional forays (including Soulmate and The Return of Merlin), that he's not a novelist. While the spiritual energy that inspires millions to spend billions on Chopra's books and seminars hovers like an aura around the novel, it fails to enliven the aimless plot or cardboard characters. Jess Conover is the dubious hero, a 28-year-old writer wandering listlessly through life in Boston. One day, a newspaper ad catches his eye. The ad reads: "Love has found you. Tell no one, just come." A life-altering journey begins. Jess heads to New Hampshire, where he meets elderly Dolly and lovely young Elena, two spiritually energized women who draw him into their mystical lives devoted to love. Even readers eager to suspend disbelief will find themselves resisting, not because the events related are so incredible but because they are so vague. The barely defined narrative progresses as Jess becomes leader of a "mystery school" and the two women impart bits of cryptic wisdom. Their pronouncements not only sound mysterious, but remain so for the simple reason that they function more as soothing mantras than meaningful life lessons. Hollow phrases like "Love makes the world possible" and "Nothing exists without you" are made to signify everything and nothing. The writing is serviceable, but the story and message are forgettable. Chopra's nonfiction fans might be willing to give the book a go, hoping for fictional fulfillment, but chances are even they will be disappointed. (Nov.) Forecast: Chopra's fiction has never sold as well as his nonfiction, and this offering is unlikely to narrow the gap. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
By now, Chopra's works speak for, or against, themselves; there is very little need to introduce "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine." The current volume is another study of the positive power of love, achieved in this case through mystical experience. It is certainly Chopra, but scarcely a novel as billed. Slackly written and devoid of narrative, character, or observation, Chopra's book is a carefully managed set of conversations on the author's favorite topics. The narrative form is so disquieting to Chopra that by the end he lapses into the sort of adept-to-seeker dialog familiar from a thousand other books on spirituality; one wonders why he bothered with even the initial sets and costumes of fiction. For collections where there is a strong interest in Chopra's work. Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
More New Age yarnspinning from pop guru Chopra (Soulmate, 2001, etc.), this time about a young Boston writer's quest for spiritual fulfillment. Plenty of people have trouble settling down in their 20s. Take Jess Conover. At 28, Jeff is still an aspiring writer (emphasis on "aspiring") who ekes out a living as the rewrite man at a weekly paper in Boston. Jeff's girlfriend Renee recently left him, but they're still in touch and may get back together. Meanwhile, Jeff's older sister Linny, married and with children, is eager for Jeff to find himself and raise a family. But Jeff just can't make the commitment. All in all, Jeff is a normal American twentysomething (i.e., a superannuated adolescent). Then one day he finds an intriguing classified ad in the Boston Globe: "Love has found you. Tell no one, just come." The ad also lists a New Hampshire phone number and (most mysterious of all) the initials "JC" (as in Jeff Conover). Jeff calls and is told to drive to New Hampshire immediately. There's a blizzard raging outside and his ancient Camry has bald tires and a weak transmission, but he hits the road without a second thought and drives straight to the address he was given. There, he meets Dolly, an older lady who is known as a "wise woman," and Elena, who is about Jeff's age. Dolly and Elena are part of a secret society called the Daughters of Joy, and their mission is to initiate Jeff into "the subtle world" of spiritual bliss. This entails out-of-body experiences, hallucinations and dreams, and a lot of talk about love and mystery. Eventually, Jeff and Elena start a mystery school in Boston to carry on the work of enlightening the spiritually precocious. And Jeff finally finds out what thepoint of his life is. More catechism than novel-with wooden characters, minimal plot, and dialogue so absurd ("a mystery school . . . is a place where you learn that love is a mystery") that even Kahlil Gibran would break out laughing.
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