Jodi Picoult's Handle With Care

My first Picoult experience was watching My Sister's Keeper, a movie made from one of her bestselling novels. A friend suggested I read another book by hers called "House Rules", a story about a boy with Asperger's syndrome being tried for homicide. I was at the shelf, holding a copy of that book when my gut-feel replaced it with Handle With Care, still Picoult's.

For one, Picoult has a fascination with stories revolving around families with someone severely disabled in them. My Sister's Keeper, House Rules and Handle With Care all deal with sickness. Come to think of it, its easy to understand why.

Disabilities in children are no one's fault. You have a problem but you can't really find a definite beginning or end. Its given to you and you just bear it, you can't complain or find a solution because it won't bring any good. Its painful, dramatic, complex and touching. Its a perfect formula for an appealing bestseller -- but I am not saying that it is an easy formula to brew.

Picoult is a very good writer. Her ability to imagine her characters, give enough backbone to them and make them all seem real is just exceptional. There were parts of the book where I would sigh because of heartbreak. She writes so well, simple and very human that along the pages you forget it  is all just fiction. But that is what makes a good fiction writer, the ability to make everything so real.

The book is about Willow, a child with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). It is a very rare congenital disease caused my mutation in the genes. Its no one's fault, not even genetics. It just happens. Willow is a wonderful character, very young, but can't be normal because OI has made her bones severely brittle, a simple bump will cause a fracture. Everyone loves her, especially ridiculous hospital bills.

Desperate to achieve her desire of giving Willow a comfortable future, Charlotte, her mother, sues her obstetrician, coincidentally Charlotte's best friend, for money. The law suit becomes a huge controversy and begins to question everyone's beliefs and ultimate desires.


The book is presented in a way understanding each character's view clearly is extremely easy. Appropriate because in stories like these, there is a lot of understanding to do. Willow's father, older sister, mother, the obstetrician Piper, her husband and daughter, going through a tough time because not all children are born perfect to the world, but each one is born perfect to a mother.

****

The story is good, the method of storytelling is exceptional. I can't imagine how the characters could have been introduced or built better. I fell into the world of the story. It was heartbreaking and its a very bad book if you can't handle the tough side of reality. Its also a big book, perfect for lazy summer days.

Well, it wasn't really fun given the whole plot. Everything you expect from a book with a suffering child is there - but there is a lot more. When you buy it then read it, its really easy to understand why it is a bestseller.