Book Review - Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult

I honestly have to say that this is the first Picoult book that I didn't read in one day, even one week. Why? I will tell you later.

Handle With Care is a typical Picoult book that uses thought-provoking, controversial topics, alternating points of view, and symbolism. In this book, the thought provoking controversial topic is about a child who was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (sometimes known as Brittle Bone Disease); the right to terminate a pregnancy if you knew beforehand your child has a disease; along with suing your best friend; and now add that to a child who learns her mother wishes she was never born; a sister who is forgotten and has emotional problems of her own; and a marriage disintegrating - all because of the mother's actions.

The alternating points of view include Willow (the 6 year old child who has OI and whose bones break at even a deep breath yet is older and wiser than anyone in the book), Amelia (the step-sister who is forgotten and becomes bulimic and cuts herself), Charlotte (a former pastry chef and the mother who decides to sue her doctor for wrongful birth), Sean (the father who is a policeman and against what his wife is doing and in fact testifies for the doctor), Piper (the doctor and close personal friend of Charlotte's), and Marin (the lawyer who takes on Charlotte's case and has her own personal issues going on).

The symbolism in this book: Willow's name (Willow was deliberately given this name because her parents knew before her birth that she would have OI and the name symbolized a willow tree's ability to bend and flow instead of breaking); in the discussion of various aspects of baking, such as folding, tempering, and weeping (added bonus of ten recipes inserted throughout the book); in the lawyer's search for her birth mother and finding out she was never wanted; and in the book cover where the ending is shown.

The lawsuit comes about when Charlotte, the mother, decides to sue her doctor for wrongful birth, claiming she should have caught the disease earlier in utero and recommended abortion. But it is not that Charlotte truly believes she would have aborted her baby because she did have that chance at the next ultrasound visit when the diagnosis was actually found. She did it for the money she would receive towards her daughter’s medical expenses. She had no thoughts on how this would affect her best friend who was the doctor, or her child who finds out that her mother didn't want her to be born, or the effect on her marriage, or what it was doing to her other daughter. I actually don't know who she thought she was doing it for and in my opinion, I don't think she knew either.

Okay, the problems I had with this book:
1. The recipes. I didn't get the symbolism because Charlotte was no longer a pastry chef. The cook/baker in me though, loved the recipes.

2. Wrongful death lawsuits. Ones like this, in my opinion, is what is wrong with health care today. I am not against a wrongful death lawsuit in a legitimate case but in this case, it is wrong.

3. Juries awarding money based on sympathy and not the facts of the case and to someone who has admitted on the stand that she did know about the OI and didn't abort.

4. Now let's top that with ruining the doctor's reputation. That award, even though never cashed, was given by the malpractice insurance thus insuring that Piper would never get malpractice insurance again without paying 20 times that amount herself from another carrier. Picoult thinks that this will earn sympathy from her readers - it won't from me. The damage was already done.

5. I think the biggest thing for me though - how does a mother stand up in public or in a courtroom and state that she wishes she had aborted her child and lie when doing it. What kind of mother would do that?

As you can tell, this book brought up many negative feelings. I would never recommend this book to anyone.

There were a few quotes I loved:

A dutiful mother is someone who follows every step her child makes. A good mother is someone whose child wants to follow her.

When you think you're right, you are most likely wrong.

Things that break - be they bones, hearts, or promises - can be put back together but will never really be whole.

In spite of what I said, you can miss a person you've never known. I learn this over and over again, every day I spend without you.