Monday 31 May 2010

My Sister's Keeper - the book


This book is brilliant. It is by Jodie Picoult and is about ethical issues surrounding things like organ donation and who has authority to make particular decisions regarding this. The story is centred around Sara and Brian, and their three children: Jesse, 18, Kate, 16, and Anna, 13 (although they are not always these ages as the story flashes back to the past to explain certain points).

Kate has had a rare type of leukeumia since she was two years old, and Anna was conceived in a special way, so that she would be the perfect donor for Kate, as no-one else in the family was a genetic match. Ever since Anna was small, she has had to donate lymphocytes, bone marrow, and more. But now her mum is asking her to donate a kidney to Kate. This could endanger both of their lives. So Anna decides to sue her parents for the right to her own body.

The emotion conveyed in this book through every character is very easy to empathise with, and because of this, it is extremely difficult for the reader to come to a conclusion about who and what is right. The ending is very unexpected and it left me thinking about it after I had finished the book.

I really recommend this and I am definitely going to watch the film to see if it's anywhere near as good as the book.

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