My Sister’s Keeper Book Review

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

                My Sister’s Keeper is a dramatic novel telling the story of the Fitzgerald family and their battle with leukemia. The middle child, Kate, has been diagnosed and been fighting cancer since before she could walk and in order to save her, the Fitzgerald’s genetically created Anna, their youngest child. Everything about Anna is perfectly compatible with Kate’s ailing body. After dozens of operations, Anna decides to sue her parents for the right to her own body when asked to donate a kidney to Kate. The novel dives into the depths of the family cracks to discover the real motive behind Anna’s behavior all while trying to save Kate in the process.

                 The characters of this courageous story are each intricately knit with their own pattern of life like a Christmas sweater. The character of Anna is so rough around the edges that it’s so easy to want to love on her and take her side of the story immediately. Her relationship with her dying sister Kate is one that any two siblings would aspire to have. Their emotion and love is so pulling, you feel as if you are part of their family. The strains depicted between Sara and Brian, the mother and father, tug on the heart strings and pray that they can recoil their relationship and know their lives will be okay.

Picoult masters the feeling of the modern family and the struggles presented with a horrific situation with such ease and flow it poses the question that this was her real life. Her craft or writing differs from character to character that as the reader it feels as if it is happening in plain sight.  On page 195 Brian is narrating Anna’s move into the fire station with him and says, “Immediately, my face goes red, and as if it’s catching, so does Anna’s. There is only one female firefighter, a part-timer, and the women’s room is on the lower level of the station. But still.” The craft of the stream on consciousness displayed here only begins to describe the accuracy and livelihood of Picoult’s writing.

The plot of this novel is addicting. It is like a habit that just cannot be shaken. The twists and turns and drama that fill every page keep the reader on edge and dying to turn the next page. Within each character section, there are new bits of information to be discovered. There are parts of the novel where the senses go wild even though the obvious is about to happen. On page 367 Anna’s lawyer is in command of the courtroom. The novel reads, “From the corner of my eye, I can see Sara’s stunned face. I can hear the judge banging his gavel. ‘You’re right, Dr. Neaux – parents need to be parents,’ I say. ‘But sometimes that isn’t good enough.’” The drama never lets up in this novel and continues to unfold like a letter just discovered from the past.

                As a whole, My Sister’s Keeper, deserves a five out of five stars. Every single element of this novel has been picked at until it reached perfection and it is obvious. Any person of any age could and should wrap themselves up in this book because it speaks to the human heart directly. It is relatable even if the circumstances in this novel are extremes. Jodi Picoult has created another fantastic work and she continues to roll out novels that amaze. My Sister’s Keeper will work its way on to the “Need to Read” list of anyone and everyone from all walks of life.