Perhaps we have all wondered about our place in this world, something Anna Fitzgerald never has. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult tells the story of young girl whose role is to be a storehouse of parts for her older sister Kate, who has cancer. Whenever Kate needs a transplant, Anna must fill the slot, and she’s as accessible as walking down the hall.
The Fitzgerald family doesn’t realize the unethical peril of creating this “designer baby” until thirteen-year-old Anna sues them for medical emancipation. The book is told in seven very different perspectives and covers eleven days, from Anna hiring her own attorney to the breathtaking end.
Just when you think things can't get more complicated, they do. Mrs. Fitzgerald turns out to be an attorney, and dusts off her law degree to defend Kate. The family teeters on a fatal edge, knowing that if Anna wins the case, Kate will die without her kidney transplant. Twisted throughout is a messy love affair between Anna’s attorney and her Guardian Ad Litem. The neglected older brother, Jesse, has a secret that neither parent cares to find out until it stares them in the face.
Though unorthodox and delicate the plot, this book caused my heart to tug strings I didn’t know existed, and fight internal battles over issues I didn’t understand. Picoult covers all the bases in this controversial novel about family relations and getting what you deserve.