My Sister's Keeper

by Bernardine Kennedy

In 1975, Vietnamese orphan Cathy Carter arrives in England to begin a new life. Her childhood in the New Forest is idyllic, but when she is fifteen tragedy strikes. Her adoptive parents are killed in a fire, and she is left with her strange, uncommunicative adoptive twin sisters. Sad and lonely, Cathy joins a local theatre group, where she becomes besotted with one of the directors. Nico is forty, and very good-looking, but he preys on vulnerable young girls, and has set his sights on Cathy. She is petite and pretty, and she is due to inherit a fortune.On her sixteenth birthday, Nico blackmails the twins into allowing Cathy to marry him. Their marriage soon turns sour, and after their daughter, Sammy-Jo, is born Cathy escapes with the child to Spain. But one day, Nico finds them...

Genres: Fiction, Book Club

Hardcover

First published July 1, 2002

About the author

Bernardine was born in London but spent most of her childhood with her travelling ex-pat parents in Singapore and Nigeria before settling in Essex, where she still lives.

Her diverse and very varied working life, which has given her such an insight into the situations of her characters, has included careers as an Air Hostess, a Swimming Instructor and a Social Worker as well a Teacher of English in a women's prison.

She has been a freelance writer for many years initially writing whatever was wanted by whoever before eventually specialising in travel features for popular magazines and newspapers. This gave her the opportunity to combine her two favourite activities; writing and travelling!

Reviews

[Sarah Lindsay]

Was amazing and the emotion was so vivd throughout the novel I cried on several occasions.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending KILLED me! It was a good read, and it was great for posing moral/ethical questions

[Susie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy the writing, thematically it was all over the place - felt like the author had axes to grind that had nothing to do with the main story/themes. They would appear for a paragraph, or a shoe-horned b-plot and not tie into the main story thematically. The pacing was unnecessarily odd. Often it was too on the nose with would-be themes. Also I felt the characterisation was off, characters felt either 2D clichés or would wander too wildly. Finished it quickly though.

The actual prose rubbed me the wrong way. So many sarcastic exclamation marks, I thought I was reading an Enid blyton novel! Not the internal dialogue of a monster...

Lastly the dialogue was often awkward and stilted.

[D.G. Torrens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was exceptionally well written. It's a story that would be every mother's nightmare. A mother with one child suffering from Leukaemia so they have another child to save the life of their current one. Only the as the child get's older she no longer wants to be just a donor for this and that she wants to be like any normal child playing with her friends. This is a very deep story. One that will grip you and never let you go. I could not imagine being a mother in this position for one single minute. A great story, well written and great characters.

[Mónica BQ]

Nope

[02mimk · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Darkness, you know, is relative." is a line from the book "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. It is one of the best books that I have ever read. It's just the kind that I like; dramatic, inspirational, and realistic fiction.
Almost all teenagers are allegedly invinsible. Not Kate Fitzgerald. She has had a rare form of leukimia since she was two years old and has skimmed the very lips of death on a constant basis. In hopes of curing Kate, her parents make a "designer baby" to match to Kate's blood because Jesse (Kate's brother) nor Sara or Brian (Kate's parents) were a match. This baby is Anna. Short for Andromeda. Her father named her that because it was a constellation story line that meant "princess". Throughout Kate's life, Anna is her life saver. Anna is constantly "under the blade" as you would say, giving blood stems, bone marrow, and much other things vital to Kate's survival, if even the smallest health problem occured. When Anna is 13, and Kate is 16, Anna decides that she has had enough, and files a law suit to make any more medical decisions made for her, placed in her hands. Particularly for the most recent; a kidney transplant. The transplant could save Kate's life. Although it would make it so Anna's would be less so. Anna loves to play hockey, and it would make it so she wouldn't be able to play. But it isn't the reason why she filed the lawsuit. In court, it comes to the surface that Kate asked Anna to kill her. Anna instead deciedes to file this suit. Anna ends up winning, but to everybodys dismay, a tragic accident takes place that ends up changing everyones lives for good. The come to realize, you can never take someone for granted.
The setting of "My Sister's Keeper" takes action in many different places, but mainly in court. This book was very insightful, to me at least. Lines such as "In the English language there are orphans and widows, but there is no word for the parent who loses a child" touch me because I never thought of it before. I loved how this book doesn't do chapters, but instead focuses on each character one at a time to show their point of view. Although it was a little confusing because of the time changes, it was like being able to read minds; and I liked that. I would recommend this book to everyone (especially people of the gender FEMALE) because it is a book that gives you sadness, madness, and happiness all at the same time which sums up for a interesting book that you don't want to put down. It is exceptionally magnetizing because you can't decide how you feel about it. At some parts it's like when you watch the annoying dog get hit by a car; it makes you regret ever thinking that way about the subject. And other parts it makes you feel strongly about how you feel on the subject, almost to the point when you want to argue with the characters. To not like this book would be arduous. So, in conclusion, READ IT.

[Whitney Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a girl who gets leukemia and is fighting for her life in hospital when her mother donates her organs. All her life, up until she is 13 the little sister is put through many surgical procedures until she doesnt want to anymore.So she gets a lawyer and takes her parent to court to stop them using her. The girl gets the permission from the court to stop, much to her parents disgust.The older sister passes away in the hospital bed with her family beside her.I really enjoyed reading this book because it was interesting and i got engaged in the book after the first few pages.The thing I didnt like about this book was that it didnt have a happy ending. I would recommend this book to people over 14 because it is a little bit complicated for a younger audience to read or to understand what is happening. I decided to read this book as i had recently seen the movie and thought the book would be better. I really enjoyed reading my sisters keeper.

[Maran Gorham]

This is one ofy favorite books because I struggled and rooted for the character so much. This book was easy to get into because the author asks such a hard question that many unfortunately one day face in their own family. The character that i fought the most with was the mother because I couldn't agree with there way she eater her second daughter like a LAN rat or a bin with spare parts just to prolong her first Norns life while the brother is ignored and the family lives in dysfunction because of the cancer. The situation the family is in really affects each character individually. The end was the most annoying because it seemed lie after the entire story there was no pointin the small picture of the family biut as a big picture it really meant a lot to trualy have control over your body no mater what age

[D'andra Conyers]

My sisters keeper is a real tear jerker. It shows you how much love there is in a family. It is one of those books that make you want to do a good deed when you are done with it. It teaches people not to be as selfish. When someone is in need, help them out because everyone needs a helping hand every once in a while. In this case it was a much more serious way of lending a helping hand but still gets the message across. Overall this was a really excellent book and I would recommend for anyone too read it.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bernardine Kennedy was recommended to me by a friend many years ago, I have since read & enjoyed all of her books & this is a favourite. Bernardine is a great writer and this was a fabulous engrossing story.
If you enjoy books by Lesley Pearse, I'm sure you will also love Bernardine Kennedy, give them a try you won't be disappointed.

I have noticed that most of the reviews for this Bernardine Kennedy book seem to be for a Jodi Picoult book with the same title that I have not even read?

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to read this book because my friend had told me it was really good.
What I liked about this book was that the story is told from other peoples point of view through-out the story.
What I didn't like about this book was that it diddn't have a happy ending,and i wasn't expecting it to end that way.
I would recommend this book to mostly girls aged 11 to about 18.

[Dimaris Cintron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the book first then saw the movie and both pulled at my heart and filled me with over whelming sadness but I can understand the struggles of the mom side of not letting go and the courage of the sister of respecting Kates wishes.

[Callie Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a slow read for me and was getting quite good til the ending. After I read the ending I wanted to throw the book down on the ground and stomp on it and all that kept me from doing that was that I didn't own the book.

[Laleh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really makes you think. I read this book thinking I knew what the right choice would be but after reading from each character's point of view, couldn't make a decision. Definitely a sad story. Very well written.

[Eliza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was really good, i think that it was a very worthwhile book to read- it was very sad/emotional and had lots of strong messages butmit was very nice to read even though it was such a trajjic story!!!!

[Michelle Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book from an older lady and was expecting a throw away romance novel. It is a throwaway story, but has a more sinister side than expected and what the cover portrays.

Good but leaves you with a slightly sordid feeling (and not the "50 shades/black lace kinda sordid).

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Incredibly well written.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had trouble liking some of the characters. The ending was shocking. Saw the movie and hated it. Read the book.

[Ep Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

i recently watched the movie. its great.

[Keturah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book. The movie I was not impressd with after such a wonderful book.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like the ending but it was a good book.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book I could not put it down. The ending was a shock. Very sad ending.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anoter good one by Jodi Picoult.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one

[Vivienne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing to say just found it boring

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book but more for people in high school or early college.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

too sad.... I like a story that is about adventure not about dying.

[Jenine Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely heart wrenching. Raises more questions than can ever be answered.