Handle With Care
Release: Sept 15 2009
Book links to Book Depositroy and teaser from Goodreads.com
"Every expectant parent will tell you that they don't want a perfect baby, just a healthy one. Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe would have asked for a healthy baby, too, if they'd been given the choice. Instead, their lives are made up of sleepless nights, mounting bills, the pitying stares of "luckier" parents, and maybe worst of all, the what-ifs. What if their child had been born healthy? But it's all worth it because Willow is, well, funny as it seems, perfect. She's smart as a whip, on her way to being as pretty as her mother, kind, brave, and for a five-year-old an unexpectedly deep source of wisdom. Willow is Willow, in sickness and in health." Everything changes, though, after a series of events forces Charlotte and her husband to confront the most serious what-ifs of all. What if Charlotte should have known earlier of Willow's illness? What if things could have been different? What if their beloved Willow had never been born? To do Willow justice, Charlotte must ask herself these questions and one more. What constitutes a valuable life?"Jodi's websit: http://www.jodipicoult.com/
**My rating: 4/5**
*My Review*
Handle with Care is a heart-wrenching novel about illnesses and family relations. Picoult writes in such a way that I am not sure who is right and wrong, or what side I should be on. The lawsuit is trying and it almost breaks the family because they feel the same way.
This is written from multiple points of view, and for the most part she does well at distinguishing voices and making distinct characters and personalities, but I did get confused some when it switched so often. Also this book is written in letter form to Willow, so it uses "you" which felt off to me at some places.
This really made me think about how families react, how I view disabilities, and how I take things for granted. It shows how twisting the truth can really be a slippery slope.
And, although some called it predictable, the ending surprised me, and I can't decide if it is fitting or not.
I would love to hear what you think of my review and/or the book!