Handle with Care Book Review
Hello
again everyone!
Today
I’m going to finally post my review of Jodi Picoult’s novel Handle With Care, which I originally intended
to upload back in March.
THIS
BOOK HAS ALL OF THE HALLMARKS OF JODI PICOULT, in the sense that it is a very
thought-provoking read, with a strong moral question at its heart. I have read
several of her works now, and every single time, I find my judgement and moral
integrity being questioned. My views on the subject matter are one way when
reading the first page, and are in some way altered, if not totally changed, by
the time I finish the book. This is one of those characteristics of Picoult
that I have come to love, and is why I continue to be drawn in by her novels,
and why I can’t stop reading them!
IT
RAISES SEVERAL KEY QUESTIONS surrounding the topic of disability, particularly
in relation to the other contentious subject of abortion.
In
Handle with Care, Sean and Charlotte
O’Keefe’s daughter Willow has osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), also known as
brittle bone disease. This condition is life-limiting, and causes frequent bone
breaks, which means high medical costs and a lot of time spent in hospitals. In
order to try and make Willow’s life easier, they sue their obstetrician. However,
doing so means admitting that if they had known about their daughter’s
disability, they would have aborted her. There are quite a few interesting debates
around this subject, and I have placed some of the larger moral questions
below. (Hopefully these are worded in the right way, and that no offence is
caused.)
If
the parents of a disabled child had known about the disability during
pregnancy, would they have chosen to abort the foetus? Similarly, if a
disability is discovered early enough in a pregnancy, should that embryo be
aborted to prevent the difficulties that the child will have to face if they
are born?
For
someone with a disability, is it better to live and have a low quality of life,
or to be dead and not have to live in constant pain? If so, who should make
that choice?
Do
parents of disabled children ever regret that they have a child who has a
disability? Do they wish that their child had been born “normal” instead? If they
feel this way, does this mean they don’t love that child, or love them less? Perhaps
it means they love them more, because they wish they could go through life
without all of the difficulties they will face?
Without
a doubt, this is one of the most fascinating and thought-invoking books I’ve
read in the last few years, from one of the best authors of our time. Another really
brilliant book, and one I couldn’t put down.
10/10
Have
you read Handle with Care, or any
other works by Jodi Picoult? I would love to hear your thoughts on this book,
or any of the moral questions above. Please feel free to message me on all of
my social media links in the table below, or leave a comment on this post.
I
will be back soon with another post, and until then, keep reading, keep
smiling, and above all else, keep believing!
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SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
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