Stephen Lovely’s debut novel, “Irreplaceable” is a beautifully detailed story about the aftermath of a heart donation. It really asks you the question, “Would you consider organ donation now?”.
And “Why not?”. Why is the ‘heart’ the most glorified organ? Why should it be any different from a liver, eye or kidney? I guess in many ways, humans like to think that their most raw emotions come directly from the heart.
About the book : The details are so vivid that it felt like I was a silent observer, watching each character within their environment and feeling their every emotion. It was surreal, actually. The story starts with the organ donor, Isabel, who is about to die. It quickly moves onto one year ahead and tracks back on how each character was affected. Her husband, Alex Voormann is still mourning the sudden loss of his beautiful wife. He manages to stay connected to his mother-in-law, as if to recapture moments of her childhood and youth. Meanwhile, the heart recipient, Janet Corcoran is fiercely determined to display her gratitude for this gift of life and inexplicably intrudes into his world.
The person (Jasper) who ‘accidentally’ kills Isabel, stalks Alex and tries to seek some sort of atonement. Or acknowledgement – for being the ‘hero’ who gave the gift of life to Janet.
Alex, is conflicted from not wanting to know the heart recipient, to beheading Jasper and also getting to know a new girlfriend. How does the story end? Ah… you’d have to find out yourself.
Buy it : Great read. Very nice if you have some spare quiet time and some nice hot tea/coffee by your side. The details make you want to read it word-for-word (I tend to speed read -ha ha! ), so, yes, a leisurely time is highly required.
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Voice (February 3, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1401322824
ISBN-13: 978-1401322823
Many thanks to Parent Reviewers for this great opportunity.
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This sounds like a really interesting book!
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