The More You Read

This book fit in with the typical pattern that Jodi Picoult’s novels follow that includes a courtroom battle along with issues of family, life and love.  In Handle With Care the central theme is around Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe’s daughter, Willow, who is five years old at the beginning of the book and was born with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI).  This is a disease that causes bones to be so brittle and fragile that they can break at a sneeze or a wrong step or turn.

Charlotte’s full time job is caring for Willow and her older daughter Amelia.  This includes being her advocate at the hospital whenever there is another broken bone.  Sean is a police officer trying to earn the money that it takes to pay medical bills and for special equipment.  Amelia tries to survive and still have her life and attention from her parents without feeling guilty about how healthy she is.  And Willow tries to live her life to the fullest, collecting tons of information and being thrilled about the small things she is allowed to do or try.

In the midst of these struggles the parents consult a lawyer about their treatment after one of Willow’s breaks.  Instead of the lawsuit they were initially pursuing they end up contemplating a wrongful birth lawsuit…saying that if Willow’s health problems had been diagnosed earlier in the pregnancy they may have chosen a different option then carrying the pregnancy through.  The implications of what such a lawsuit would mean to Willow, the community and to themselves (the parents) is a complex idea that is struggled with throughout the story.

This isn’t my favorite of Picoult’s books, however I personally struggled with the premise a little bit, which I image the author expected since that’s what the characters were doing as well.  Yet if you enjoy Jodi Picoult, you will most likely enjoy this book.  It is well written and there is strong emotion throughout.

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Fiction, Jodi Picoult