How did you feel about the lawsuit? The matter is complicated in many aspects, but especially because of Charlotte’s close friendship with Piper, her ob-gyn.

Charged with thought-provoking questions about medical ethics, morality, parenting, and honesty, Handle with Care asks just how far we would go to care for the ones we love.ġ. Charlotte and Sean are faced with a very difficult decision when presented with the option of suing for wrongful birth. Picoult constructs an emotionally complex novel, weaving tender and poignant moments into a difficult story of suffering and sacrifice. In pursuing a wrongful birth suit against her obstetrician (and best friend for nearly a decade), Charlotte is willing to put everything on the line in hopes of gaining the financial means necessary to take care of her daughter. Her mother, Charlotte, will do anything to give Willow the best life possible-even if she has to say under oath that Willow never should have been born. Over her lifetime, Willow will have hundreds of broken bones.

We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.Īnother heart-wrenching, controversial novel by Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care introduces Willow, a smart and charming five-year-old who was born with a brittle bone disease called osteogenesis imperfecta. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion.

This reading group guide includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Jodi Picoult. “Well-written and conscientiously researched” ( The Washington Post), Handle with Care is an unforgettable and emotionally riveting novel that explores the fragility of life and the lengths we go to protect it. What if Charlotte had known earlier of Willow’s illness? What if things could have been different? What if their beloved Willow had never been born? To do Willow justice, Charlotte must ask herself these questions and one more: what constitutes a valuable life? Smart as a whip, beautiful, brave, and kind, Willow is Willow, in sickness and in health.Įverything changes, though, after a series of events forces Charlotte and Sean to confront the most serious what-ifs of all. Yet, in other ways, their daughter Willow is a perfect child. Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe wanted the same but instead, their lives are made up of sleepless nights, mounting bills, pity from other parents, and haunting what-ifs. In this provocative story from the #1 New York Times bestselling author, “Picoult writes with unassuming brilliance” (Stephen King).Įvery expectant parent insists the same thing: they simply want a healthy baby. When Willow is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, her parents are devastated-she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a lifetime of pain.

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult