My Sister's Keeper [ペーパーバック]

   ピクート（『Second Glance』ほかの著者）の11冊目となるこの本は、子どもが重病と診断されたときに家族がしなければならない選択を、哀感と思いやりをこめて描いている。安楽死（『Mercy』）や10代の自殺（『The Pact』）、衛生保護法（『Second Glance』）のような議論の余地のあるテーマに取り組んでいる著者は、遺伝子設計や病気治癒を目的に子どもをもうけることと、その結果生じる倫理的、道理的問題に目を向ける。

   ケイト・フィッツジェラルドは珍しいタイプの白血病を患っている。彼女の妹アナは、体への負担がしだいに大きくなっていく治療に代わるものとして、血液や臓器のドナーになることを目的に作られた子どもだった。13歳の時、アナは弁護士を雇い、腎臓移植の計画に関して、自分の体をどう使うか自分で決める権利を求めて両親を訴えることになる。一方、なおざりにされていた長男ジェシーは家を出て放火し、消防士をしている父ブライアンが必然的に、それを消し止めることになる。著者は、それぞれの登場人物の意志や見解を明らかにするため、複数の視点を導入しているが、その推移はいつものようになめらかではない。フラッシュバックの場面は唐突で、子どもたちの母親セーラは、これまでの作品の人物たちほどリアルには描かれていない。セーラが献身的にケイトに接するのは理解できるが、裁判にいたるまでのアナの苦境をまったく理解してやれないというのは信じがたいし、むかし取得した法学位を持ち出して、このような複雑なケースで自己弁護することになるというのも受け入れがたい。それでもピクートは、入り組んだテーマを、明瞭、果敢な姿勢でみごとに深く掘り下げ、胸を締め付けられるような予想外の展開で物語を締めくくっている。
Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness.

Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate -- a life and a role that she has never challenged...until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister -- and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.

My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity. --このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。

The difficult choices a family must make when a child is diagnosed with a serious disease are explored with pathos and understanding in this 11th novel by Picoult (Second Glance, etc.). The author, who has taken on such controversial subjects as euthanasia (Mercy), teen suicide (The Pact) and sterilization laws (Second Glance), turns her gaze on genetic planning, the prospect of creating babies for health purposes and the ethical and moral fallout that results. Kate Fitzgerald has a rare form of leukemia. Her sister, Anna, was conceived to provide a donor match for procedures that become increasingly invasive. At 13, Anna hires a lawyer so that she can sue her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned. Meanwhile, Jesse, the neglected oldest child of the family, is out setting fires, which his firefighter father, Brian, inevitably puts out. Picoult uses multiple viewpoints to reveal each character's intentions and observations, but she doesn't manage her transitions as gracefully as usual; a series of flashbacks are abrupt. Nor is Sara, the children's mother, as well developed and three-dimensional as previous Picoult protagonists. Her devotion to Kate is understandable, but her complete lack of sympathy for Anna's predicament until the trial does not ring true, nor can we buy that Sara would dust off her law degree and represent herself in such a complicated case. Nevertheless, Picoult ably explores a complex subject with bravado and clarity, and comes up with a heart-wrenching, unexpected plot twist at the book's conclusion.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。

Using her sensitive, wise touch, Jodi Picoult once again probes into the love and heartache of a young girl and a modern family. As the Washington Post declares, "[I]t is impossible not to be held spellbound by the way she forces us to think, hard, about right and wrong."

Booklist (Starred Review) My Sister's Keeper is a beautiful, heartbreaking, controversial, and honest book.

People (Critic's Choice) [Second Glance] is a fast-paced, densely layered exploration of love, the pull of family and the power of both to transcend time.

Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) A spellbinding suspense novel.

USA Today Picoult's characters are so compelling that the reader hopes this won't be the last time we meet.

Washington Post Picoult has become a master -- almost a clairvoyant -- at targeting hot issues and writing highly readable page-turners about them....

The Boston Globe Picoult writes with a fine touch, a sharp eye for detail, and a firm grasp of the delicacy and complexity of human relationships. --このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。

Jodi Picoult is the author of nineteen novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Sing You Home, House Rules, Handle With Care, Change of Heart, Nineteen Minutes, and My Sister’s Keeper. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. Visit her website at JodiPicoult.com. --このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。