My Sister's Keeper

I've recently begun reading My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult. Although I'm only a quarter of the way through the book, I was intrigued after reading the first few pages. This fictional novel encapsulates so many compelling topics, woven into a very complex plot. Kate has had leukemia since she was a mere two years old. When her parents, Sara and Brian Fitzgerald, found out that their only son, Jesse, wasn't a match for a bone marrow transplant, Anna became their last hope for saving their only daughter. Thirteen year-old Anna Fitzgerald was born for the sole purpose of saving her sister's life. With each hospital visit, treatment, dialysis session and surgery Kate goes through, Anna comes along, endlessly giving for her sister without being given the freedom to make the choice herself. 

The tides turn when Anna takes a stand. When she makes the choice to sue her parents. She knows that Kate's cancer will never stop taking, sucking the life out of both her and her sister. Eventually, she'll have to supply Kate with a kidney and she's not ready to make that step. Anna knows the risks that come with what she's expected to do. And whether her rebellion comes from a place of fear or from her craving for freedom and purpose, Anna's decision is one that her family will not see coming. This book wraps around the legal, medical and emotional aspects of Anna and Kate's story. Each chapter is written in a different perspective, jumping back and forth between each member of the Fitzgerald family and Campbell Alexander, Anna's lawyer.

Anna has grown up with a storm cloud looming over her head. She knows that without Kate's illness, she wouldn't have been born. She's spent her whole life contemplating that fact, and every time she comes up with the same conclusions. She feels invisible in the shadow of her beloved sister. She's never been able to be her own person, using all of her energy to fuel Kate's life. She places her identity on a very unstable platform, constantly feeling alone as she realizes that the only purpose she's ever known could be stripped of her at any moment. Anna's thoughts and fears are verbalized in these lines:

It made me wonder, though, what would have happened if Kate had been healthy. Chances are, I'd still be floating up in Heaven or wherever, waiting to be attached to a body to spend some time on Earth. Certainly I would not be a part of this family. See, unlike the rest of the free world, I didn't get here by accident. And if your parents have you for a reason, then that reason better exist. Because if it's gone, so are you. (Picoult 8).

http://www.jodipicoult.com/my-sisters-keeper.html

The above link displays additional information about Jodi Picoult and My Sister's Keeper as well as an excerpt from the book.