My Sister's Keeper Read online

  PRAISE FOR JODI PICOULT

  MY SISTER'S KEEPER

  "[A] fascinating character study framed by a complex, gripping story. . . . A beautiful, heartbreaking, controversial, and honest book."

  --Booklist (starred review) "It's difficult to find a book combining a timely moral dilemma with well-drawn characters for whom one cares. Picoult has written such a book."

  --The Boston Herald

  "[Picoult's] thoughtful, thought-provoking and readable work is . . . arguably her best and most accessible effort to date."

  --The Denver Post

  " . . . Compelling and believable."

  --Richmond Times Dispatch

  SECOND GLANCE

  "Picoult writes with a fine touch, a sharp eye for detail, and a firm grasp of the delicacy and complexity of human relationships."

  --The Boston Globe

  "Picoult has become a master--almost a clairvoyant--at targeting hot issues and writing highly readable page-turners about them. . . . It is impossible not to be held spellbound by the way she forces us to think, hard, about right and wrong."

  --The Washington Post

  "Picoult ingeniously ties the ghost story to a true one about eugenics. . . . The history lesson makes for chilling, even shocking, reading."

  --People (Critic's Choice) "[An] elaborate, engrossing plot. . . . Suspense and the supernatural are artfully interwoven. . . . Picoult's ability to bring [her characters] all vividly to life is remarkable."

  --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  PERFECT MATCH

  "Picoult's characters are so compelling."

  --USA Today

  "Picoult's novel . . . reminds us how easy it is to jump to conclusions and to do all the wrong things for all the right reasons."

  --Glamour

  "A spellbinding story."

  --The Toronto Sun

  SALEM FALLS

  "Picoult . . . keep[s] the reader constantly guessing."

  --The Dallas Morning News

  "Picoult's depiction of the legal process is excellent . . . intriguing and thorough . . . [with] a couple of eye-opening surprises."

  --Kirkus Reviews

  PLAIN TRUTH

  A People magazine "Page-Turner of the Week"

  "[A] suspenseful, richly layered drama. . . . [A] hummer of a tale."

  --People (starred review) "Absorbing and affecting."

  --Entertainment Weekly

  "Quietly electrifying . . . [with a] magnificently painted backdrop and distinctive characters."

  --Publishers Weekly

  SONGS OF THE HUMPBACK WHALE

  "Picoult spreads her wings and catches an updraft."

  --The New York Times Book Review "Rich and charming. . . . Picoult casts a spell with her beautiful imagery and language. Reading this book is a delight."

  --Ann Hood, author of Do Not Go Gentle "As Picoult uses five voices to tell a complex tale of love, friendship, and a Faulknerian family history, her mastery of language strongly individuates her characters. . . . This powerful and affecting novel demonstrates that there are as many truths to a story as there are people to tell it."

  --Publishers Weekly

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  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  Prologue

  Monday

  Anna

  Campbell

  Sara

  Brian

  Tuesday

  Anna

  Sara

  Wednesday

  Campbell

  Anna

  Jesse

  Sara

  Julia

  Campbell

  Anna

  Thursday

  Brian

  Julia

  Sara

  Anna

  Campbell

  Jesse

  Brian

  Friday

  Campbell

  Brian

  Sara

  The Weekend

  Jesse

  Anna

  Brian

  Sara

  Anna

  Julia

  Monday

  Campbell

  Anna

  Sara

  Jesse

  Brian

  Campbell

  Tuesday

  Campbell

  Sara

  Wednesday

  Julia

  Campbell

  Julia

  Campbell

  Anna

  Brian

  Campbell

  Anna

  Sara

  Thursday

  Campbell

  Jesse

  Anna

  Brian

  Sara

  Campbell

  Anna

  Brian

  Sara

  Epilogue

  Kate

  About This Guide

  A Conversation With Jodi Picoult

  Questions And Topics For Discussion

  A Readers Club Guide

  Between the Lines Teaser

  Reader's Companion

  About the Author

  About Emily Bestler Books

  About Atria Books

  Ask Atria

  To the Currans:

  The best family members we're not technically related to.

  Thanks for being such a big part of our lives.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  As the mother of a child who had ten surgeries in three years, I would like to thank first the doctors and nurses who routinely take the hardest moments a family can experience and soften the edges: to Dr. Roland Eavey and the pediatric nursing staff at Mass. Eye and Ear--thank you for the real-life happy ending. In the course of writing My Sister's Keeper, as always, I was reminded of how very little I know, and how much I rely on the experience and the intellect of others. For allowing me to borrow from their lives personally and professionally, or for suggestions of pure writing genius: thank you, Jennifer Sternick, Sherry Fritzsche, Giancarlo Cicchetti, Greg Kachejian, Dr. Vincent Guarerra, Dr. Richard Stone, Dr. Farid Boulad, Dr. Eric Terman, Dr. James Umlas, Wyatt Fox, Andrea Greene and Dr. Michael Goldman, Lori Thompson, Synthia Follensbee, Robin Kall, Mary Ann McKenney, Harriet St. Laurent, April Murdoch, Aidan Curran, Jane Picoult, and Jo-Ann Mapson. For making me "can man" for the night, and part of a bona fide firefighting team: thanks to Michael Clark, Dave Hautanemi, Richard "Pokey" Low, and Jim Belanger (who also gets a gold star for editing my mistakes). For throwing their considerable support behind me, thanks to Carolyn Reidy, Judith Curr, Camille McDuffie, Laura Mullen, Sarah Branham, Karen Mender, Shannon McKenna, Paolo Pepe, Seale Ballenger, Anne Harris, and the indomitable Atria sales force. For believing in me first, my pure gratitude to Laura Gross. For outstanding guidance and the freedom to spread my wings, my sincere appreciation to Emily Bestler. For Scott and Amanda MacLellan, and Dave Cranmer--who offered me insight into the triumphs and tragedies of living daily with a life-threatening disease--thank you for your generosity, and best wishes for a long and healthy future.

  And, as always, thanks to Kyle, Jake, Sammy, and especially to Tim, for being what matters most.

  PROLOGUE

  No one starts a war--or rather, no one in his sense ought to do so--without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.

  --CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ, Vom Kriege

  In my first mem