My Sister's Keeper

My Sister’s Keeper is Jodi Picoult’s 11th novel. It centres around Anna Fitzgerald who has retained lawyer Campbell Alexander to sue her parents for the right to her own body. Anna was conceived to provide (initially) cord blood for her older sister Kate who has leukaemia. As she has grown up and as Kate’s disease has progressed, more and more has been demanded of Anna’s body for her sister. The story of what happens is told in several voices: Anna’s, her mother Sara’s, her brother Jesse’s, her father Brian’s, her lawyer Campbell’s, and her guardian ad litem, Julia’s. this is a provocative novel that does not shy away from the issues: conceiving a child to save another; who has rights over a minor’s body; is it possible to love a child too much; is it possible to love all one’s children equally; teenage pyromania. As always, Picoult handles the court scenes with finesse, and the final twist makes for a perfect ending. A great read!