Handle with Care

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
Fiction/Literature

Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe with their two children, Amelia and Willow, plan a very longed-for vacation to Disneyworld. They have not been on vacation in ages because Willow has OI, a disease of brittle bones. Willow has broken numerous bones in her 5 years and spent countless hours in ERs and in casts.

Willow slips on a napkin and ends up in the ER. Abuse is suspected and Amelia goes to foster care and Charlotte and Sean go to the police station. Once home Sean is so upset he consults a lawyer to find out there is nothing he can do but there is a potential lawsuit of wrongful birth.

When Charlotte was pregnant and had an initial ultrasound the brain showed up as being very clear, a possible harbinger of the disease. Instead a secondary ultrasound found the problem when it was too late to do anything. Charlotte's best friend and OB should have found the problem or at the very least monitored the situation. Charlotte and Sean are very strapped for cash to handle Willow's medical expenses.

Charlotte decides to proceed with the lawsuit. She feels that she is doing this for the best of her child. In the meantime, poor neglected Amelia starts throwing up (bulimia) and cutting.

I absolutely hated Charlotte and felt there was no redeeming qualities about the character. What mother tells her child she loves her and then turns around and says to the court she wishes she aborted her and does this just for the money. Sean is the worst kind of wimp. He doesn't agree with Charlotte and starts divorce proceedings and then turns around and comes back to her. I have not had such a negative feeling about two characters in a long time.

The story is an interesting take on What if? and is very similiar to My Sister's Keeper.

First Line: "Things break all the time."

Rating:
(4.0/5)