Holiday Reading (Book Review - My Sister's Keeper)

Title: My Sister’s Keeper
Author: Jodi Picoult

Plot: This story is about a girl, Anna, who was born a designer baby, to save her sister’s life. Kate suffers from leukaemia and she requires blood transplants and unfortunately her blood type doesn’t match with either her parents or her brother, Jesse. Anna is born so that she can provide blood and bone marrow transplants for her sister, Kate. For her whole life she has been helping her sister unquestioningly. However, there comes a point where Anna stops, when she was told that she would have to donate a kidney. Eventually, it escalates to a court case of medical emancipation, where she is against her mother, who wants her to save her sister’s life by having her donate the kidney. The novel shows the difficulties that both parties faced. The way the author does it is by telling the story in different perspectives, regularly switching among the different characters. Anna is constantly pushed aside because of Kate’s medical condition, and she has to undergo numerous medical procedures for Kate. Sara, Anna’s mother, finds it difficult to express her love for Anna due to Kate’s condition (she has to constantly give her attention to Kate). She has to constantly struggle between Kate and Anna, which puts her under great stress and she is unable to make a choice between them because they are both her daughters. It is eventually revealed that Kate convinced Anna to go to court, because she thought that she wouldn’t live long either, and she wanted Anna to have a normal life. At the end of the novel, Anna is involved in a car accident. The moment when the doctor announces that Anna is brain dead, Sara breaks down. She is told that once she turns off the machines that keep her alive, Anna will be dead. Eventually, Anna still donates the kidney to Kate.

Issues and Themes: Death, Organ Donation, Family Conflict

I would recommend this book for any teenager or adult. This is a touching novel that can spark anyone’s interest. One is able to sympathise with both sides and understand their predicament as the author has carefully balanced the struggles both faced. Anna is torn between saving her sister and saving herself. Sara is torn between saving both daughters. This book sets us thinking about what is really morally correct.