Drawing strength from a brittle child

March 20, 2009|Karen Campbell, Globe Correspondent

It's hard to fault best-selling novelist Jodi Picoult. Why mess with a winning formula? In her most successful books, Picoult develops a plot around a provocative topical issue and unreels the story through the alternating voices of a cast of characters offering differing perspectives, often omitting the voice of the main figure at the heart of the tale. It has been a fairly effective contrivance in previous bestsellers such as "Change of Heart" and "Nineteen Minutes." But in Picoult's new "Handle With Care," the construct feels a little tired and tepid, creating more distance than illumination. We don't get much inspiration to really care about the characters, who never quite emerge as flesh and blood.

In addition, the story itself lacks the tension and suspense of previous novels, yet the book's central ethical dilemma doesn't provoke nearly as much reflection as we know Picoult's writing can. If it's not going to be a page turner, better have a little more meat on the bones to chew on in contemplation.

But part of the problem may be the subject matter, which, for a parent, can make for painful reading. The topic du jour of "Handle With Care" is the slippery slope of the issue of "wrongful birth," which implies that an obstetrician who knows that an unborn child will be significantly impaired has the responsibility to provide guidance to the mother regarding possible abortion. The moral dilemma raised is "Who has the right to decide what kind of life is too limited to be worth living?" But while most every parent recalls the fervent prayers for a healthy child and the dark, furtive introspection of "What if?," "Handle With Care" doesn't bring that effectively home.

The central figure of the story is Willow, who suffers from a brittle-bone disease called osteogenesis imperfecta, or OI. By the time she is 6 1/2, she has endured 68 broken bones, countless surgeries, and endless rehabilitation. Willow's story is told primarily through the voices of her mother, Charlotte; her father, Sean, a 19-year police veteran; and her 12-year-old sister, Amelia, who is overweight, bulimic, and out of control, having spent much of her childhood taking a back seat to her sister's grave disabilities.