I just finished reading Jodi Picoult’s novel, "My Sister's Keeper. The story begins when Anna is 13 and decides to sue her parents for body emancipation (medical rights to her own body). Anna had been conceived for the soul purpose of being her older sister Kate's bone marrow match. Kate was diagnosed with acute promyeloctic leukemia at the age of two. Each chapter in the novel is told from a different character's point of view. This results in feeling compassionate not only for Anna who is called on as a donor every time Kate is sick, but also for her parents who could lose a beloved daughter at any time, and also for Kate herself whose disease is worse than you could possibly imagine.
The story was heartbreaking. It brought me to tears more than once. It really exposes the reader to the harsh realities of childhood leukemia. The book’s main premises to explore modern advances in genetic engineering and the long term consequences this may have on the genetically engineered individual are very complex issues with no easy answers. Picoult must have felt the same way because with her surprising ending she doesn’t really answer these questions herself. Would I recommend this book? Yes, with reservations.
This was my first Jodi Picoult novel. Considering that I wasn't overly familiar with her work I found a review written by Chris Newfound interesting. He categorizes Jodi Picoult with authors Alice Sherve, Elizabeth Berg, Alice Hoffman, and Jacqueline Mitchard calling them Teeners. He states that they occupy a place below the more "literary" contemporary female fiction writers (Margaret Atwood, Anne Beatie, Joyce Carol Oates and even Anne Tyler), but still fly far above chick-lit - usually younger writers themselves, writing about your women residing in familiar urban areas and looking for love in all the wrong places.
