Wednesday, July 20, 2005
My Sister's Keeper
What a great book! By Judi Picoult. I could not put this book down. This book makes you think about moral and legal issues.
My Sister's Keeper tells the story of a feisty 13-year-old, Anna Fitzgerald, who was conceived to save her sister Kate's life. Over the years, Anna dutifully serves as her sister's donor, providing Kate, who has leukemia, with stem cells, blood and bone marrow. But when Kate's organs begin to fail and Anna's parents expect her to donate a kidney, she balks. Fed up with spending time in the hospital for medical procedures that are not in her best interest or for her benefit, and tired of living in her sister's shadow, Anna decides to sue her parents for "medical emancipation," or the right to make decisions about her own body.
The book is written from the mother, father, sister, brother, lawyer and legal guardian's points of view. It is well worth the read. About 450 pages.
My Sister's Keeper tells the story of a feisty 13-year-old, Anna Fitzgerald, who was conceived to save her sister Kate's life. Over the years, Anna dutifully serves as her sister's donor, providing Kate, who has leukemia, with stem cells, blood and bone marrow. But when Kate's organs begin to fail and Anna's parents expect her to donate a kidney, she balks. Fed up with spending time in the hospital for medical procedures that are not in her best interest or for her benefit, and tired of living in her sister's shadow, Anna decides to sue her parents for "medical emancipation," or the right to make decisions about her own body.
The book is written from the mother, father, sister, brother, lawyer and legal guardian's points of view. It is well worth the read. About 450 pages.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Vital Signs
Barbara Wood is amazing. I loved this book. It's not a historical book, like her others, but it's a wonderful tale of 3 females,who meet in medical school in the late '60s -- bright, ambitious women struggling to make a place in a man's world. Each has a past she wants to forget. Each has a dream she yearns to fulfill. And in the years that lie ahead -- years of triumph and tragedy, joy and sorrow, love and loneliness -- each will find, in their unique bond of friendship, the courage and strength to succeed.
There is Mickey, disfigured from birth, who turns to plastic surgery to heal herself and others afflicted with her special pain. Sondra, abandoned by her natural parents, who becomes a missionary doctor to forgotten souls crying out for love.
And Ruth, who discovers the miracle of motherhood, and opens a pioneering fertility clinic that offers new hope to those who once had none.
Moving through the exotic settings of California, Hawaii, and Africa, Vital Signs weaves a rich and compelling story of contemporary women's lives in love and work, revealing the special challenges faced by women in medicine today.
About 350 pages.
There is Mickey, disfigured from birth, who turns to plastic surgery to heal herself and others afflicted with her special pain. Sondra, abandoned by her natural parents, who becomes a missionary doctor to forgotten souls crying out for love.
And Ruth, who discovers the miracle of motherhood, and opens a pioneering fertility clinic that offers new hope to those who once had none.
Moving through the exotic settings of California, Hawaii, and Africa, Vital Signs weaves a rich and compelling story of contemporary women's lives in love and work, revealing the special challenges faced by women in medicine today.
About 350 pages.
Monday, July 04, 2005
Green City in the Sun
700 pages of Africa! Green City in the Sun is the saga of two proud and powerful families -- one British, one African -- and their battle over Kenya's destiny in the twentieth century.
It is 1917 when pioneer Dr. Grace Treverton arrives in Kenya, determined to bring modern medicine to the natives. Her brother, Sir Valentine Treverton, has his own dream for the British protectorate: to establish an agricultural empire there to rival any in England. But the dreams of the wealthy Trevertons collide with those of the African family that has lived on the land for generations. Grace finds a deadly rival in Wachera, an African medicine woman, who fights to maintain native traditions against the encroaching whites. Wachera places a curse on the Trevertons, after which a series of tragedies threatens to destroy what the once great family fought to create. And the fates of future generations of these two remarkable families become inextricably bound.
Excellent, excellent, excellent!
It is 1917 when pioneer Dr. Grace Treverton arrives in Kenya, determined to bring modern medicine to the natives. Her brother, Sir Valentine Treverton, has his own dream for the British protectorate: to establish an agricultural empire there to rival any in England. But the dreams of the wealthy Trevertons collide with those of the African family that has lived on the land for generations. Grace finds a deadly rival in Wachera, an African medicine woman, who fights to maintain native traditions against the encroaching whites. Wachera places a curse on the Trevertons, after which a series of tragedies threatens to destroy what the once great family fought to create. And the fates of future generations of these two remarkable families become inextricably bound.
Excellent, excellent, excellent!
