Book Review
"Handle with Care" by Jodi Picoult
AUTHOR: Jodi Picoult
TITLE: Handle with Care
PUBLISHER: Atria
496 Pages
Jodi Picoult has been steadily releasing books, nearly annually, since 1992. Picoult has said that, for her, the creation of a novel is much like the development of a baby in that it takes nine months.
For the many authors who release books quickly, it can be said that oftentimes the hastiness of finishing the novel detracts from the quality of the work. However, Picoult's 16th novel, Handle with Care, is no less poignant than her others.
Although many of her previous novels have been bestsellers, Picoult's fame skyrocketed with her 2003 novel, My Sister's Keeper. It has managed to remain in the public eye more so than her other novels because it has been adapted to a film (which will be released this summer) including such actors as Cameron Diaz, Alec Baldwin and Abigail Breslin.
Picoult's novels juggle issues such as a school shooting, a mercy killing, sexual abuse, a suicide pact and the appearance of stigmata. However, with nearly every novel focusing on different controversial issues that make the headlines daily, they each share a common thread. When it comes down to it, Picoult's novels are about relationships between people, and that is what primarily makes Picoult's novels so gripping.
As she does in her other novels, Picoult weaves the tale in Handle With Care with the use of multiple points of view. Each chapter takes on a different voice, molding to the central characters' thoughts. However, unlike her other novels, each voice speaks in the second person, addressing "you." The "you" to which each narrator refers is Willow O'Keefe.
Willow O'Keefe is not a normal five-year-old child; she is exceedingly smart and can spit out facts as if she were constantly reading from Wikipedia (a characteristic that leads her sister, Amelia, to nickname her "Wiki"). She also has Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI).
OI, also called Brittle Bone, is a disease in which bones lack enough collagen so that something as simple as a sneeze can cause them to fracture. Willow is born with Type II OI, which, while not fatal, is incredibly debilitating.
TITLE: Handle with Care
PUBLISHER: Atria
496 Pages
Jodi Picoult has been steadily releasing books, nearly annually, since 1992. Picoult has said that, for her, the creation of a novel is much like the development of a baby in that it takes nine months.
For the many authors who release books quickly, it can be said that oftentimes the hastiness of finishing the novel detracts from the quality of the work. However, Picoult's 16th novel, Handle with Care, is no less poignant than her others.
Although many of her previous novels have been bestsellers, Picoult's fame skyrocketed with her 2003 novel, My Sister's Keeper. It has managed to remain in the public eye more so than her other novels because it has been adapted to a film (which will be released this summer) including such actors as Cameron Diaz, Alec Baldwin and Abigail Breslin.
Picoult's novels juggle issues such as a school shooting, a mercy killing, sexual abuse, a suicide pact and the appearance of stigmata. However, with nearly every novel focusing on different controversial issues that make the headlines daily, they each share a common thread. When it comes down to it, Picoult's novels are about relationships between people, and that is what primarily makes Picoult's novels so gripping.
As she does in her other novels, Picoult weaves the tale in Handle With Care with the use of multiple points of view. Each chapter takes on a different voice, molding to the central characters' thoughts. However, unlike her other novels, each voice speaks in the second person, addressing "you." The "you" to which each narrator refers is Willow O'Keefe.
Willow O'Keefe is not a normal five-year-old child; she is exceedingly smart and can spit out facts as if she were constantly reading from Wikipedia (a characteristic that leads her sister, Amelia, to nickname her "Wiki"). She also has Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI).
OI, also called Brittle Bone, is a disease in which bones lack enough collagen so that something as simple as a sneeze can cause them to fracture. Willow is born with Type II OI, which, while not fatal, is incredibly debilitating.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Andrew
posted 3/17/09 @ 12:40 AM EST
G'day,
Just thought I'd mention that I'm looking forward to reading this when it comes out (as someone who has OI I think it will be a bit confronting in some ways, however if I could pick an author to do this topic justice then Ms Picoult would definitely qualify, based on her other works). (Continued…)
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