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The Story of a Heart: Two Families, One Heart, and the Medical Miracle that Saved a Child's Life
A riveting and inspiring true story of two families linked by one heart—written by a bestselling author and palliative care doctor.
The first of our organs to form and the last to die, the heart is both a simple pump and the symbol of what makes us human; as long as it continues to beat, there is hope. In The Story of a Heart, Dr. Rachel Clarke interweaves the history of medical innovations behind transplant surgery with the story of two children—one of whom desperately needs a new heart.
One summer day, nine-year-old Keira Ball was in a terrible car accident and suffered catastrophic brain injuries. As the rest of her body began to shut down, her heart continued to beat. In an act of extraordinary generosity, Keira’s parents and siblings immediately agreed that she would have wanted to be an organ donor. Meanwhile nine-year-old Max Johnson had been in a hospital for nearly a year, valiantly fighting the virus that was causing his young heart to fail. When Max’s parents received the call they had been hoping for, they knew it came at a terrible cost to another family—in what Clarke calls “the brutal arithmetic of transplant surgery.”
The act of Keira’s heart resuming its rhythm inside Max’s body was a medical miracle. But this was only part of the story. While waiting on the transplant list, Max had become the hopeful face of a campaign to change the UK’s laws around organ donation. Following his successful surgery, Keira’s mother saw the little boy beaming on the front page of the newspaper and knew it was the same boy whose parents had recently sent her an anonymous letter overflowing with gratitude for her daughter’s heart. The two mothers began to exchange messages and eventually decided to meet.
This is the unforgettable story of how one family’s grief transformed into a lifesaving gift. Clarke relates the urgent journey of Keira’s heart and explores the history of the remarkable surgery that made it possible, stretching back over a century and involving the knowledge and dedication not just of surgeons but of countless nurses and technicians, immunologists and paramedics. The Story of a Heart is a testament to compassion for the dying, the many ways we honor our loved ones, and the tenacity of love.
The first of our organs to form and the last to die, the heart is both a simple pump and the symbol of what makes us human; as long as it continues to beat, there is hope. In The Story of a Heart, Dr. Rachel Clarke interweaves the history of medical innovations behind transplant surgery with the story of two children—one of whom desperately needs a new heart.
One summer day, nine-year-old Keira Ball was in a terrible car accident and suffered catastrophic brain injuries. As the rest of her body began to shut down, her heart continued to beat. In an act of extraordinary generosity, Keira’s parents and siblings immediately agreed that she would have wanted to be an organ donor. Meanwhile nine-year-old Max Johnson had been in a hospital for nearly a year, valiantly fighting the virus that was causing his young heart to fail. When Max’s parents received the call they had been hoping for, they knew it came at a terrible cost to another family—in what Clarke calls “the brutal arithmetic of transplant surgery.”
The act of Keira’s heart resuming its rhythm inside Max’s body was a medical miracle. But this was only part of the story. While waiting on the transplant list, Max had become the hopeful face of a campaign to change the UK’s laws around organ donation. Following his successful surgery, Keira’s mother saw the little boy beaming on the front page of the newspaper and knew it was the same boy whose parents had recently sent her an anonymous letter overflowing with gratitude for her daughter’s heart. The two mothers began to exchange messages and eventually decided to meet.
This is the unforgettable story of how one family’s grief transformed into a lifesaving gift. Clarke relates the urgent journey of Keira’s heart and explores the history of the remarkable surgery that made it possible, stretching back over a century and involving the knowledge and dedication not just of surgeons but of countless nurses and technicians, immunologists and paramedics. The Story of a Heart is a testament to compassion for the dying, the many ways we honor our loved ones, and the tenacity of love.
253 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 10, 2024
385 people are currently reading
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January 13, 2026
❤️ Winner of the 2025 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction! 🥳
👉 Click here to watch my Best Books of 2025 video. 📚🐛
"Triple-bagged, submerged in fluid, a perfect yet petrified living organ, Keira's heart, Max's hope, rising now from its frozen bed, wondrous and incomprehensible."
I knew going in that this was going to be a difficult book to read. When my brother died, his organs were donated. Whenever I think of the lives his organs saved, I always think of his heart moving through the world in someone else's body. Each time I think of it, I'm overcome with a wave of emotions. I feel wonder and heartbreak and joy and sadness and sense of the miraculous existing on earth. It's really quite strange and wonderous.
And Rachel Clarke captures that sense of strange wonder in this incredibly moving book. It centers on nine-year-old Kiera's organs being donated after she suffers catastrophic injuries in a car accident, as well as nine-year-old Max who receives her heart after being hospitalized for almost a year. But the book moves beyond these two families to include the doctors and nurses involved in both cases.
In addition to the touching story of these two families, Clarke explores the history of transplant surgery and the major medical milestones necessary to get us where we are today. She also enlightens readers to the delicate nature of life after a transplant surgery.
Few books have moved me to the degree this one did.
If you have any doubts about being an organ donor, this book will change your mind. I cannot recommend it highly enough!
👉 Click here to watch my Best Books of 2025 video. 📚🐛
"Triple-bagged, submerged in fluid, a perfect yet petrified living organ, Keira's heart, Max's hope, rising now from its frozen bed, wondrous and incomprehensible."
I knew going in that this was going to be a difficult book to read. When my brother died, his organs were donated. Whenever I think of the lives his organs saved, I always think of his heart moving through the world in someone else's body. Each time I think of it, I'm overcome with a wave of emotions. I feel wonder and heartbreak and joy and sadness and sense of the miraculous existing on earth. It's really quite strange and wonderous.
And Rachel Clarke captures that sense of strange wonder in this incredibly moving book. It centers on nine-year-old Kiera's organs being donated after she suffers catastrophic injuries in a car accident, as well as nine-year-old Max who receives her heart after being hospitalized for almost a year. But the book moves beyond these two families to include the doctors and nurses involved in both cases.
In addition to the touching story of these two families, Clarke explores the history of transplant surgery and the major medical milestones necessary to get us where we are today. She also enlightens readers to the delicate nature of life after a transplant surgery.
Few books have moved me to the degree this one did.
If you have any doubts about being an organ donor, this book will change your mind. I cannot recommend it highly enough!
September 7, 2025
this is the first book to make me cry in 4 years so well done i guess.
this book tells the interwoven stories of two nine-year-olds: max, who needs a heart transplant, and keira, whose tragic death leads to her heart being donated. it explores the complexities of organ donation, the medical advancements in transplantation, and the impact on both the donor and recipient families. i thought this book was just incredible - so deftly written, with so much intelligence and compassion, and also a riveting read, despite the difficult subject matter. one of the best non-fiction books i’ve read.
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decided i'm going to read the women's prize non-fic winner each year! doppelganger was the inaugural winner last year and was one of my fave books of the year, so i have high hopes for this.
this book tells the interwoven stories of two nine-year-olds: max, who needs a heart transplant, and keira, whose tragic death leads to her heart being donated. it explores the complexities of organ donation, the medical advancements in transplantation, and the impact on both the donor and recipient families. i thought this book was just incredible - so deftly written, with so much intelligence and compassion, and also a riveting read, despite the difficult subject matter. one of the best non-fiction books i’ve read.
—————————
decided i'm going to read the women's prize non-fic winner each year! doppelganger was the inaugural winner last year and was one of my fave books of the year, so i have high hopes for this.
October 29, 2024
This is a book that was hard to read and listen to and sent me to the internet to see what happened to the families. It was a book that was amazing, heart-breaking, tragic, joyous, full of interesting medical history and at times devastating and there were time I was not sure I would finish or just skip to the end.
A little of my own background. I became an R.N. in 1972 and worked first to help open and equip one of the first Neonatal Intensive Care units in Phoenix. Arizona. It was the early days of the idea for intensive care for premature babies and those with severe medical problems. When I went into nursing I knew I could never be a floor nurse, but felt compelled to be on the leading edge of medicine. After several years with babies I moved on to taking care of adults and found a job in Northern California and worked at Stanford University with Dr Norman Shumway's heart transplant unit(mentioned often in this book) during the hey day of heart transplants in the late 1970's. My interest in this book was peaked to see how this speciality had developed and how the National Health System in Britain handled these young patients.
This book describes both the early days of the medical advances that made heart transplants possible (respirators, tissue matching, use of drugs to prevent rejection) and the early days of the idea of heart transplant and then focuses on two families and their experience in this medical speciality.
"it is not medicine but Witchcraft" one physician describes it. And in many ways it is. To imagine taking the heart out of one child so injured that she/he is considered beyond any scope of repair and has no brain function and then transplanting that heart into another who also has been kept alive largely through machinery and seeing that child live, and return to health. It is almost beyond imagining.
But for this grandmother the reading about it was often heartbreaking. The death or severe illness of children is not for the faint hearted and I found myself wanting to turn away. Yet Rachel Clarke had an incredible ability to temper the hard emotional parts with great medical information and history. I did love her writing and the pacing and all she put into telling a real difficult story. This book also gave high praise to the work done by the National Health system of Britain.
So I was taken along by an expert hand and am a real fan of Rachel Clark (she both wrote the book and narrated the audio) and her medical writing. A wonderful telling of a difficult subject. If you have an interest in the history of medicine and the wonders of how transplants are saving lives I would highly recommend this book. Just get the kleenex ready.
A little of my own background. I became an R.N. in 1972 and worked first to help open and equip one of the first Neonatal Intensive Care units in Phoenix. Arizona. It was the early days of the idea for intensive care for premature babies and those with severe medical problems. When I went into nursing I knew I could never be a floor nurse, but felt compelled to be on the leading edge of medicine. After several years with babies I moved on to taking care of adults and found a job in Northern California and worked at Stanford University with Dr Norman Shumway's heart transplant unit(mentioned often in this book) during the hey day of heart transplants in the late 1970's. My interest in this book was peaked to see how this speciality had developed and how the National Health System in Britain handled these young patients.
This book describes both the early days of the medical advances that made heart transplants possible (respirators, tissue matching, use of drugs to prevent rejection) and the early days of the idea of heart transplant and then focuses on two families and their experience in this medical speciality.
"it is not medicine but Witchcraft" one physician describes it. And in many ways it is. To imagine taking the heart out of one child so injured that she/he is considered beyond any scope of repair and has no brain function and then transplanting that heart into another who also has been kept alive largely through machinery and seeing that child live, and return to health. It is almost beyond imagining.
But for this grandmother the reading about it was often heartbreaking. The death or severe illness of children is not for the faint hearted and I found myself wanting to turn away. Yet Rachel Clarke had an incredible ability to temper the hard emotional parts with great medical information and history. I did love her writing and the pacing and all she put into telling a real difficult story. This book also gave high praise to the work done by the National Health system of Britain.
So I was taken along by an expert hand and am a real fan of Rachel Clark (she both wrote the book and narrated the audio) and her medical writing. A wonderful telling of a difficult subject. If you have an interest in the history of medicine and the wonders of how transplants are saving lives I would highly recommend this book. Just get the kleenex ready.
November 21, 2025
I was really impressed with this book. It tells the story of a heart transplant between two children and their lives as well as the larger story of heart transplants. It is really compelling and well done. It doesn't reinvent the wheel but it is/does exactly what you hope it will. Well done.
June 12, 2025
Rachel Clarke is a palliative care doctor and voice of wisdom on end-of-life issues. I was a huge fan of her Dear Life and admire her public critique of government policies that harm the NHS. (I’ve also reviewed Breathtaking, her account of hospital working during Covid-19.) While her three previous books all incorporate a degree of memoir, this is something different: narrative nonfiction based on a true story from 2017 and filled in with background research and interviews with the figures involved. Clarke has no personal connection to the case but, like many, discovered it via national newspaper coverage. Nine-year-old Max Johnson spent nearly a year in hospital with heart failure after a mysterious infection. Keira Ball, also nine, was left brain-dead when her family was in a car accident on a dangerous North Devon road. Keira’s heart gave Max a second chance at life.
Clarke zooms in on pivotal moments: the accident, the logistics of getting an organ from one end of the country to another, and the separate recovery and transplant surgeries. She does a reasonable job of recreating gripping scenes despite a foregone conclusion. Because I’ve read a lot around transplantation and heart surgery (such as When Death Becomes Life by Joshua D. Mezrich and Heart by Sandeep Jauhar), I grew impatient with the contextual asides. I also found that the family members and medical professionals interviewed didn’t speak well enough to warrant long quotation. All in all, this felt like the stuff of a long-read magazine article rather than a full book. The focus on children also results in mawkishness. However, the Baillie Gifford Prize judges who shortlisted this [edit: and the Women’s Prize for Nonfiction judges!] clearly disagreed. I laud Clarke for drawing attention to organ donation, a cause dear to my family. This case was instrumental in changing UK law: one must now opt out of donating organs instead of registering to do so.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
Clarke zooms in on pivotal moments: the accident, the logistics of getting an organ from one end of the country to another, and the separate recovery and transplant surgeries. She does a reasonable job of recreating gripping scenes despite a foregone conclusion. Because I’ve read a lot around transplantation and heart surgery (such as When Death Becomes Life by Joshua D. Mezrich and Heart by Sandeep Jauhar), I grew impatient with the contextual asides. I also found that the family members and medical professionals interviewed didn’t speak well enough to warrant long quotation. All in all, this felt like the stuff of a long-read magazine article rather than a full book. The focus on children also results in mawkishness. However, the Baillie Gifford Prize judges who shortlisted this [edit: and the Women’s Prize for Nonfiction judges!] clearly disagreed. I laud Clarke for drawing attention to organ donation, a cause dear to my family. This case was instrumental in changing UK law: one must now opt out of donating organs instead of registering to do so.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
October 17, 2025
This was excellent.
I love good narrative non-fiction. I am always impressed when an author writes authoritatively and clearly on advances in medical science, but also sensitively tells a story about families dealing with grief and the emotional rollercoaster of heart transplantation.
How do you strike the right tone between cold medical facts and the story of two nine-year-olds, Keira and Max, and the heart they share? This could have become overly sentimental or filled with medical jargon, but Dr Rachel Clarke, a specialist in palliative care, walks that tightrope perfectly.
I was engrossed the entire time. I am a fan of medical deep dives, and the sometimes horrifying antics of transplantation pioneers were riveting for me, though they might not be ideal for the squeamish.
Well done, Women's Prize for Non-Fiction for picking another exceptional book alongside last year's inaugural winner - Naomi Klein's Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World. I think I might enjoy this prize more than its fictional counterpart :)
I love good narrative non-fiction. I am always impressed when an author writes authoritatively and clearly on advances in medical science, but also sensitively tells a story about families dealing with grief and the emotional rollercoaster of heart transplantation.
How do you strike the right tone between cold medical facts and the story of two nine-year-olds, Keira and Max, and the heart they share? This could have become overly sentimental or filled with medical jargon, but Dr Rachel Clarke, a specialist in palliative care, walks that tightrope perfectly.
I was engrossed the entire time. I am a fan of medical deep dives, and the sometimes horrifying antics of transplantation pioneers were riveting for me, though they might not be ideal for the squeamish.
Well done, Women's Prize for Non-Fiction for picking another exceptional book alongside last year's inaugural winner - Naomi Klein's Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World. I think I might enjoy this prize more than its fictional counterpart :)
July 20, 2024
4.5
This is a phenomenal book. Tragedy, illness, and ultimately a medical miracle forever link the families of 9-year-olds Keira Ball, who was killed in a car accident, and Max Johnson, whose heart was rapidly failing due to a viral infection and was awaiting a heart transplant. Dr. Rachel Clarke recounts the stories of Keira and Max in alternating chapters. The story in and of itself is awe-inspiring, and although we know the outcome, the suspense kept me turning the pages. Interspersed with their story, Clarke weaves in the history of our perception of the human heart, of open-heart surgery, of heart-lung machines, and all the modern medical miracles that allow us to take the still-beating heart of a gravely injured child and transplant it into another, thereby allowing him a chance at life.
The story of Keira Ball and Max Ball inspired thousands of individuals to sign up for Great Britan's National Organ Donation registry, saving the lives of those who ultimately would languish on transplant waiting lists.
This is a phenomenal book. Tragedy, illness, and ultimately a medical miracle forever link the families of 9-year-olds Keira Ball, who was killed in a car accident, and Max Johnson, whose heart was rapidly failing due to a viral infection and was awaiting a heart transplant. Dr. Rachel Clarke recounts the stories of Keira and Max in alternating chapters. The story in and of itself is awe-inspiring, and although we know the outcome, the suspense kept me turning the pages. Interspersed with their story, Clarke weaves in the history of our perception of the human heart, of open-heart surgery, of heart-lung machines, and all the modern medical miracles that allow us to take the still-beating heart of a gravely injured child and transplant it into another, thereby allowing him a chance at life.
The story of Keira Ball and Max Ball inspired thousands of individuals to sign up for Great Britan's National Organ Donation registry, saving the lives of those who ultimately would languish on transplant waiting lists.
August 29, 2024
WOW.
This book was an absolute masterpiece & truly the most beautiful piece of nonfiction I have ever read. Not only was the story it contained beautiful to its core, Clarke’s poignant way of blending emotion, medical knowledge, and fact throughout this story of two families and how their lives were changed forever by transplant was incredibly moving.
When nine-year-old Max becomes critically ill very rapidly, he and his parents are given gut-wrenching news: to survive, he needs a transplant- and the only way he will get receive one is through the death of another child. Months into his worsening illness, a family makes the incredibly generous decision to donate their beautiful daughter Keira’s organs after a horrific accident leaves her braindead. As fate has it, these families are bonded for life through the transplant process. After Max recovers successfully from his surgery, his parents write a heartfelt note of thanks to his donor in one of the biggest newspapers in Britain. Upon seeing it, Keira’s mom reaches out, suspecting that Max is now the carrier of her daughter’s heart and they become connected. Amazingly, these two families who would’ve otherwise likely never met go on to inspire thousands to sign up for Great Britain’s organ donor registry and transform the registration process in their country.
This book was very fascinating to me because of my ICU nurse background. Dr. Clarke beautifully captures the confounding beauty and sorrow of transplant and the duality of emotions that both donor and recipient families must work through during all phases of the process. In addition to sharing the Johnson & Balls’ story, Clarke weaves a descriptive history of transplant medicine and intensive care throughout which taught me so much more about my own field of work than I ever knew. There are multiple perspectives brought in - including first responders, nurses, parents, transplant coordinators - which add to the richness of the story.
The story Dr. Clarke shared in this book made for an incredibly emotional read. I cried many times while reading, even though the outcome was known from the very beginning. I am a huge advocate for organ donation and transplant, and the story I had the privilege of reading here only adds to that. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a story about transplants, generosity and the resiliency of the human spirit. Beautiful work, Dr. Clarke!
Thank you NetGalley, Dr. Rachel Clarke, and Simon & Schuster for the free ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
This book was an absolute masterpiece & truly the most beautiful piece of nonfiction I have ever read. Not only was the story it contained beautiful to its core, Clarke’s poignant way of blending emotion, medical knowledge, and fact throughout this story of two families and how their lives were changed forever by transplant was incredibly moving.
When nine-year-old Max becomes critically ill very rapidly, he and his parents are given gut-wrenching news: to survive, he needs a transplant- and the only way he will get receive one is through the death of another child. Months into his worsening illness, a family makes the incredibly generous decision to donate their beautiful daughter Keira’s organs after a horrific accident leaves her braindead. As fate has it, these families are bonded for life through the transplant process. After Max recovers successfully from his surgery, his parents write a heartfelt note of thanks to his donor in one of the biggest newspapers in Britain. Upon seeing it, Keira’s mom reaches out, suspecting that Max is now the carrier of her daughter’s heart and they become connected. Amazingly, these two families who would’ve otherwise likely never met go on to inspire thousands to sign up for Great Britain’s organ donor registry and transform the registration process in their country.
This book was very fascinating to me because of my ICU nurse background. Dr. Clarke beautifully captures the confounding beauty and sorrow of transplant and the duality of emotions that both donor and recipient families must work through during all phases of the process. In addition to sharing the Johnson & Balls’ story, Clarke weaves a descriptive history of transplant medicine and intensive care throughout which taught me so much more about my own field of work than I ever knew. There are multiple perspectives brought in - including first responders, nurses, parents, transplant coordinators - which add to the richness of the story.
The story Dr. Clarke shared in this book made for an incredibly emotional read. I cried many times while reading, even though the outcome was known from the very beginning. I am a huge advocate for organ donation and transplant, and the story I had the privilege of reading here only adds to that. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a story about transplants, generosity and the resiliency of the human spirit. Beautiful work, Dr. Clarke!
Thank you NetGalley, Dr. Rachel Clarke, and Simon & Schuster for the free ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
November 15, 2024
This was so beautiful and moving. I love how the author alternated chapters between Kiera’s heart and Max’s heart and builds to the events that forever connects them and their families to each other. I felt that the author seamlessly blended the medical history and science of open heart surgery and transplants with reverence and emotional sensitivity. The writing style was beautiful and poignant. The last few chapters had me ugly crying but also left me with a feeling of awe.
December 25, 2024
This book documents how a tragedy for one family turned into a near-miracle for another. In 2017, both Keira Ball and Max Johnson were nine years old. Keira suffered brain death after a car crash, and her family decided to donate her heart to help someone else’s child. Max Johnson had been hospitalized after a virus attacked his heart, causing it to deteriorate to the point where a transplant was his only option. Dr. Rachel Clarke tells both stories in alternating chapters, taking the reader through what happened to each child leading up to the operation. Along the way, we learn about the history of organ transplantation, the results for patients in the early days, origins of life support systems, and other related medical advances. It is an emotional story that is often difficult to absorb – I cannot imagine the level of anguish these families experienced. The book is also a plea to consider organ donation. What happened to Max and Keira resulted in a change to the UK’s organ donation process, which was championed by both families.
September 26, 2024
3.5-I was kind of expecting this to more of a narrative nonfiction but it was much more about the history of transplants and such. Some interesting things (I didn’t realize because of polio came the discovery of ICU and ventilators). Overall I was kind of hoping more of an emotional story but it was much more science-y for me.
June 14, 2025
Really beautiful writing, one of those nonfiction books that combines science and poetry.
I cried repeatedly 🤣 mostly because my aunt died after her kidney transplant failed and I’ve steered clear of reading much about the history or lived experience of transplants. I’m glad this was the book I chose to tear the bandage off with. I’m informed and awed.
I cried repeatedly 🤣 mostly because my aunt died after her kidney transplant failed and I’ve steered clear of reading much about the history or lived experience of transplants. I’m glad this was the book I chose to tear the bandage off with. I’m informed and awed.
March 24, 2025
This book was really interesting to read the author uses simple language to explain medical terms and procedures and uses a real case to show organ donation and transplant and the sad journey of death and to being in another person to save a life.
July 23, 2025
IP 7.23.24
“With elegant simplicity, the power of ATLS follows the structure A, B, C, D, E. Airway comes before Breathing, which comes before Circulation, which comes before Disability, which comes before Exposure.”
—Rachel Clarke
“With elegant simplicity, the power of ATLS follows the structure A, B, C, D, E. Airway comes before Breathing, which comes before Circulation, which comes before Disability, which comes before Exposure.”
—Rachel Clarke
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2025
Winner of the 2025 Women’s Prize, Nonfiction
a couple good friends died when they were much too young only a few years apart, & while I’ve always been an organ donor, that made it all the more real. that even the eyes of a friend killed by a drunk driver were being used by someone… how can someone not be an organ donor‽
all that said & other stories of others (& more of mine) make this a powerful subject that is written so well & so very engaging & wonderful. maybe tied for my favorite or at least my second favorite book of this longlist so far!!
also… why is organ donation not assumed / automatic (& obviously like in the UK can be revoked by the individual &/or the family) in the US‽ so many more lives could be saved…
rankings (shortlisted books numbered)
2025 Women’s Prize—Nonfiction
* Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
* By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice by Rebecca Nagle
1. Story of a Heart: Two Families, One Heart, and a Medical Miracle by Rachel Clarke
2. What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World's Ocean by Helen Scales
3. A Thousand Threads: A Memoir by Neneh Cherry
4. Agent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter by Clare Mulley
5. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
* Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum
* Sister in Law: Fighting for Justice in a System Designed by Men by Harriet Wistrich
* Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux
* Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough
* The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor
6. Private Revolutions: Four Women Face China's New Social Order by Yuan Yang
[14/16 read, & calling it; saving two in our library for later: Tracker by Alexis Wright & Ootlin by Jenni Fagan]
a couple good friends died when they were much too young only a few years apart, & while I’ve always been an organ donor, that made it all the more real. that even the eyes of a friend killed by a drunk driver were being used by someone… how can someone not be an organ donor‽
all that said & other stories of others (& more of mine) make this a powerful subject that is written so well & so very engaging & wonderful. maybe tied for my favorite or at least my second favorite book of this longlist so far!!
also… why is organ donation not assumed / automatic (& obviously like in the UK can be revoked by the individual &/or the family) in the US‽ so many more lives could be saved…
rankings (shortlisted books numbered)
2025 Women’s Prize—Nonfiction
* Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
* By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice by Rebecca Nagle
1. Story of a Heart: Two Families, One Heart, and a Medical Miracle by Rachel Clarke
2. What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World's Ocean by Helen Scales
3. A Thousand Threads: A Memoir by Neneh Cherry
4. Agent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter by Clare Mulley
5. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
* Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum
* Sister in Law: Fighting for Justice in a System Designed by Men by Harriet Wistrich
* Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux
* Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough
* The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor
6. Private Revolutions: Four Women Face China's New Social Order by Yuan Yang
[14/16 read, & calling it; saving two in our library for later: Tracker by Alexis Wright & Ootlin by Jenni Fagan]
November 11, 2024
I don’t often cry while reading a book, but I cried several times during this book. It was a mix of the history of heart transplants, and the personal story of one family’s selfless decision to donate their child’s organs so that others could live. A truly inspiring book. To my nurse friends…this is a must read!
September 26, 2024
This wasn't always an easy read but it was definitely worth getting past my squeamishness to find out all about the realities of organ donation through this one case study. One of the most powerful books i have read in a long time. Totally brilliant.
January 9, 2026
Een non-fictie over hart transplantaties, heel informatief en mooi beschreven!
December 9, 2025
TEARS!!! highly suggest to all my friends on here (who are all nurses except Sadie) amazing story of heart transplantation intertwined with the history and ethics of critical care medicine. Amazing.
December 28, 2025
A nine-year-old girl dies in a car crash, but her heart was resuscitated in the ambulance and, though she has no brain activity, her organs might be used to save other lives. Her family receives great consolation from giving Keira's organs to others, and four people are the recipients, changing their lives. One person receiving Keira's gift was Max who desperately needs a heart.
This is the story of a miracle for Max, told through the remembrances of Max's family, Keira's family, and the doctors and nurses who made the miracle happen.
This is the story of a miracle for Max, told through the remembrances of Max's family, Keira's family, and the doctors and nurses who made the miracle happen.
October 23, 2024
This....the tears I shed. From tragedy grows a beautiful life. What does one do when they know that their prayer can only be answered if another's prayer isn't?
Beautifully written. I hope this book goes on to bring others comfort in loss and peace in triumph.
Beautifully written. I hope this book goes on to bring others comfort in loss and peace in triumph.
September 25, 2025
A beautifully and really accessibly written narrative non-fiction about two families going through the most difficult times of their lives, and how one human heart helped both of them through it. There is medical history woven through, which I found really interesting to learn about, and following the two families stories I cried more than once, so it was both an educational and emotional experience!
December 19, 2025
I would encourage everyone to read this book. Wow.
July 24, 2025
Book and audible. I had just finished this when it was nominated for the Sevenoaks bookshop club so I will be able to write a better review after a reread. At present, I would say it is well worth reading or listening as it’s very accessible in spite of some medical details. The author covers so many aspects around heart transplants, and makes the story very personal. It’s understandably extremely sad in parts, but also quite hopeful.
Book read for a group which had no medical people present and included one scientist who had a knowledge of cardiac anatomy. Unusually there were two men present but one hadn’t read the book. We discussed the writing style, which puts it into the faction genre, the humanizing of the characters, team work, historical/legal/ethical aspects, altruism, siblings, media power, fragility of life and the link with palliative care. One person agreed with me about the blond child trope and the amount of eulogizing present in the book, also an aspect of ventriloquizing. I brought up the thorny subject of economics and the problems the families have - speaking from experience. Some were old enough to remember Christiaan Barnard and the treatment of children in hospital. Another discussion was how to make this book available to the general public and encourage people to sign up for organ donation. One member had changed their mind about this after reading the book.
In summary I would say this would suit an open minded book group that appreciates the way science and ordinary life are linked. It’s a shame RC isn’t speaking at the Sevenoaks literary festival instead of Adam Kay
Book read for a group which had no medical people present and included one scientist who had a knowledge of cardiac anatomy. Unusually there were two men present but one hadn’t read the book. We discussed the writing style, which puts it into the faction genre, the humanizing of the characters, team work, historical/legal/ethical aspects, altruism, siblings, media power, fragility of life and the link with palliative care. One person agreed with me about the blond child trope and the amount of eulogizing present in the book, also an aspect of ventriloquizing. I brought up the thorny subject of economics and the problems the families have - speaking from experience. Some were old enough to remember Christiaan Barnard and the treatment of children in hospital. Another discussion was how to make this book available to the general public and encourage people to sign up for organ donation. One member had changed their mind about this after reading the book.
In summary I would say this would suit an open minded book group that appreciates the way science and ordinary life are linked. It’s a shame RC isn’t speaking at the Sevenoaks literary festival instead of Adam Kay
September 26, 2025
The Story of a Heart is not just the moving story of Keira and Max, one of whom is destined to die and the other destined to live, but also a fascinating insight into the medical advances that have led to the possibility of successfully transplanting a heart from one person to another, such as respirators, tissue matching and drugs to prevent rejection. However, as the author makes clear, the process is still fraught with risk and uncertain outcomes, the average life expectancy after receiving a heart transplant being only 14 years.
The author’s description of the heart as ‘a toiling, tireless, muscular miracle’ is just one of the striking images in the book. I liked the way she drew attention to the ‘metaphorical richness’ of the heart. ‘Hearts sing, soar, race, burn, break, bleed, swell hammer and melt. They can be won or lost, cut or trampled, and hewn from oak or stone or gold.’ As she points out, such is the heart’s centrality to the English language, its definition in the Oxford English Dictionary runs to 15,000 words.
I particularly enjoyed the sections describing the intricate logistics and the many people involved in the delicate process of moving a heart from the donor to recipient in an optimum condition and in sufficient time to allow it do its life-saving work. The book demonstrates how much of a team effort this is but also that the people involved never lose sight of the fact this is a precious gift that has come about as a result of a person’s death. One of the many moving scenes in the book is Keira’s father waiting outside the hospital to see the box containing her heart being loaded into an ambulance for its onward journey. Another is when a moment of silence is observed by the surgical team before they begin organ retrieval.
The author briefly touches on the ethical dilemmas surrounding transplant surgery given that there are always more patients awaiting a transplant than there are organs available, and that the healthiest organs are likely to be those of a young person. At its most abhorrent, there are countries in the world where organs are for sale.
As you read The Story of the Heart prepare to be moved to tears, to be uplifted by the courage of the individuals involved and to marvel at the skill and dedication of medical professionals, as well as the pioneering individuals responsible for developing technology that seemed unimaginable at the time. The book demonstrates that the NHS at its very best is a remarkable institution and one that we would do well to cherish.
Tackling a difficult, complex subject with clarity and sensitivity, and just about steering clear of sentimentality, The Story of a Heart is a well-deserved winner of the Women’s Prize for Nonfiction 2025.
The author’s description of the heart as ‘a toiling, tireless, muscular miracle’ is just one of the striking images in the book. I liked the way she drew attention to the ‘metaphorical richness’ of the heart. ‘Hearts sing, soar, race, burn, break, bleed, swell hammer and melt. They can be won or lost, cut or trampled, and hewn from oak or stone or gold.’ As she points out, such is the heart’s centrality to the English language, its definition in the Oxford English Dictionary runs to 15,000 words.
I particularly enjoyed the sections describing the intricate logistics and the many people involved in the delicate process of moving a heart from the donor to recipient in an optimum condition and in sufficient time to allow it do its life-saving work. The book demonstrates how much of a team effort this is but also that the people involved never lose sight of the fact this is a precious gift that has come about as a result of a person’s death. One of the many moving scenes in the book is Keira’s father waiting outside the hospital to see the box containing her heart being loaded into an ambulance for its onward journey. Another is when a moment of silence is observed by the surgical team before they begin organ retrieval.
The author briefly touches on the ethical dilemmas surrounding transplant surgery given that there are always more patients awaiting a transplant than there are organs available, and that the healthiest organs are likely to be those of a young person. At its most abhorrent, there are countries in the world where organs are for sale.
As you read The Story of the Heart prepare to be moved to tears, to be uplifted by the courage of the individuals involved and to marvel at the skill and dedication of medical professionals, as well as the pioneering individuals responsible for developing technology that seemed unimaginable at the time. The book demonstrates that the NHS at its very best is a remarkable institution and one that we would do well to cherish.
Tackling a difficult, complex subject with clarity and sensitivity, and just about steering clear of sentimentality, The Story of a Heart is a well-deserved winner of the Women’s Prize for Nonfiction 2025.
September 28, 2024
The Story Of A Heart is a story about two families and their experience with pediatric transplant surgery. One family’s child is the donor and the other is the recipient. This is an emotional story that describes each child’s life and the circumstances that led to their hospitalizations. I tried to place myself in the parent’s horrible situations and I wonder if I could survive what these two families went through. This book definitely brings awareness to the importance of considering organ donation. It is a very powerful story. It was a bit tough to read at times but I am so glad that I did.
August 9, 2025
Rachel Clarke brings the reality, complexity and ethics of transplant surgery very effectively to a non-medical audience. I am reasonably familiar with hospitals and worked in a renal transplant unit many years ago, and it was tempting to skip parts of the book. My only gripe was the portrayal of NHS angels. It is heartwarming and life-affirming for an NHS worker but seems too unreal. I am sure both donor and recipient families had many negative experiences, and it would have been good to hear about those too. Questionable ethics is not a relic of the past, or of early pioneers like Christiaan Barnard.
September 27, 2024
I can’t remember the last time I full on cried during a book. I couldn’t stop the tears. So many feelings—love and gratitude for young Max getting a second lease on life after equally young Keira lost her own life suddenly after a car accident. The miracle of modern medicine never ceases to amaze.
Want to read
June 16, 2025Congratulations 🎉 This Book won the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.
Congratulations 🎉 Just Long Listed for 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction. This sounds like such a moving book. Think a person dies and then the heart is given to another person to save their life ❤️
Congratulations 🎉 Just Long Listed for 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction. This sounds like such a moving book. Think a person dies and then the heart is given to another person to save their life ❤️
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January 14, 2026P.S.A: Do not read this book in public, especially if you cry easy. I was literally tearing up during the prologue! Maybe don’t read it while in a moving vehicle either (I was so paranoid that we would crash at any second 🤣).
The Story of a Heart is a beautiful, albeit difficult, read that makes you painfully aware of your own mortality. It is terrifying to realize how a simple childhood viral infection can change everything, even with modern medicine. Rachel Clarke’s writing is stunning and paints vivid images in your mind, it even felt quite cinematic at times.
While the first third is an emotional powerhouse, the momentum shifted for me in the second act. The focus moves from Max and Keira’s immediate stories toward medical history and the perspectives of professionals. While these side stories and historical deep-dives were super interesting and clearly relevant, the pacing felt a bit "dull" compared to the high-stakes emotion of the beginning.
Overall, it’s a wonderfully written blend of facts and deep human emotion. A must-read, just keep the tissues close!
[non-fiction 1/5]
The Story of a Heart is a beautiful, albeit difficult, read that makes you painfully aware of your own mortality. It is terrifying to realize how a simple childhood viral infection can change everything, even with modern medicine. Rachel Clarke’s writing is stunning and paints vivid images in your mind, it even felt quite cinematic at times.
While the first third is an emotional powerhouse, the momentum shifted for me in the second act. The focus moves from Max and Keira’s immediate stories toward medical history and the perspectives of professionals. While these side stories and historical deep-dives were super interesting and clearly relevant, the pacing felt a bit "dull" compared to the high-stakes emotion of the beginning.
Overall, it’s a wonderfully written blend of facts and deep human emotion. A must-read, just keep the tissues close!
[non-fiction 1/5]
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