Tuesday 19 June 2012

Book Review - "My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Dear Friends,

I am writing this post as so many of my friends on Sunday watched the film "My Sister's Keeper" and wanted to know if they should read the book and they loved the film. The film stars Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin, and they tell the story of their daughter and sister who has leukaemia, the family have a strong bond until the youngest, Anna, decides to sue her parents to the rights to her own body as she doesn't want to give blood to her sister anymore.
Now I must tell you, you do need a box of tissues while reading this book!

The film cover.

The Blurb reads:
SARA FITZGERALD'S DAUGHTER KATE IS JUST TWO YEARS OLD
WHEN SHE IS DIAGNOSED WITH A RARE FORM OF LEUKAEMIA.
Reeling with the helpless shock of it, Sara knows she will do
anything - whatever it takes- to save her child.

Then the test results come back time and again to show that
no one in their family is a match for Kate. If they are to find a
donor for the crucial bone marrow transplant she needs, there
is only one option: creating another baby, specifically designed
to save her sister. For Sara, it seems the ideal solution. Not only
does Kate live, but she gets a beautiful new daughter, Anna, too.

Until the moment Anna hands Sara the papers that will rock
her whole world. Because, aged thirteen, Anna has decided
that she doesn't want to help Kate live any more. She is suing
her parents for the rights to her own body.


This is such a gripping story, keeping you involved with all the members of the family. Sara - The mother - story is told from the day she finds out her daughter is ill, through all the feels and doctor appointment up to the present day in the book. She shows true emotions in this book. You follow Anna as she fighter her parents, showing the cracks in the family, making you feel for a little girl who has had to grow up quick. Brian's (the father) view is always explained as well as the other child, son Jesse, who seems to be forgotten by the rest of the family. You get to see how the decision of one child affects the whole family. This is an excellent story which will pull at your heart strings. The end is the saddest part ever, I felt like doing a Joey from friends and pulling it in the freezer!

Here's a taster of the book, this is the every beginning:
In my first memory, I am three years old and I am trying to kill
 my sister. Some times the recollection is so clear I can remember
the itch of the pillowcase under my hand, the sharp point of her
nose pressing into my palm. She didn't stand a chance against
me, of course, but it still didn't work. My father walked by,
tucking in the house for the night, and saved her. He led me back
to my own bed. "That," he told me "never happened."
As we got older, I didn't seem to exist, except in relation to
her. I  would watch her sleep across the room from me, one long
shadow linking our beds, and I would count the ways. Poison,
sprinkled on her cereal. A wicked undertow off the beach.
Lightning striking.
In the end, thought, I did not kill my sister. She did it all on
her own.
Or at least this is what I tell myself.

Let me know your thoughts on this book. As it is one of my favourites.

Love Lolly
xoxo 

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