The Donor by Clare Mackintosh.

Synopsis

She gave you everything. But what does she want in return?

When Lizzie's daughter Meg is given a life-saving heart transplant, Lizzie feels hugely grateful to the nameless donor. Then she receives a letter from the donor's mother, Karen, asking to meet, and it seems like the least she can do.

But as soon as Karen is welcomed into their lives, Lizzie feels something isn't right. And before long, she can't help but worry that by inviting Karen in, she might have put Meg in danger . . .

Review

I have only ever read I think three quick reads from the reading agency in my adult life. Although like many I’m guessing my early reading years were filled with them. I’m not usually a quick reads reader, it almost feels like a cheat because of just how short they are, but when I stumbled across this on one of my late night scrolls through new releases I had to pick it up. I wanted something emotive and heartfelt. My mental health seems to be influencing a lot of what I am reading lately. I’ve mentioned before how I am a mood reader, never has that been more true than the past few months.

Since I had my most recent breakdown before Christmas, I have felt that reading has been my best escape. Which is another reason I think why this story has so much appeal. I could escape into the life of someone else for a short while without leaving the confines of reality. I don’t know if this story is best on true events, it has a style of writing that gives that impression for sure, which is what I think kept me hooked from start to finish.

As a child I had a lot of visits to hospitals, sometimes feeling like I spent more time as an in patient than an out patient. Various condictions that were difficult to diagnose kept us going back and forth and travelling to different hospitals that we had never been to previously, so I could easily sympathise with Meg and Lizzie’s situation. Although I cannot say that I have any idea what it is like to have Cancer, it has touched my life and that of my family’s in more ways than one.

This book was released early this year, so there isn’t that much out there about it’s impact yet, another reason why I wanted to read it, I am not a reader that keeps up with trends or reads hyped books for the sake of reading it because everyone else is. After reading this book, I was interested in how many others there were out there that either touched on or used organ donation as their subject matter, to my surprise there were more than I expected. It’s a relatively taboo subject for a lot of us. Nobody really wants to think about what happens after we are gone. But this book made me stop and think. It made me look into organ donation myself, and I can honestly say that is solely thanks to reading this book, which is an impressive legacy. Subsequently I found out that dispute being eager to sign the the organ donor register, I am unable to become a donor due to the nature of my health conditions. But whether intentionally or not if this book results in the same reactions from all of its readers then can only be a good thing.

The characters in this book were developed well, however some more than others. As Meg is the character the book is based around I was expecting the perspective to be hers, it was an interesting take for it to be written from the parental side of the story. Maybe if it had been a longer book we may have seen more from her, which in my opinion was the only thing that was lacking. Meg’s interaction was quite minimal. But then as she was a child experiencing the happenings of the story, maybe her perspective would have changed the focus too much.

Lizzie was a great character she was richly rounded and gently portrayed. Her maternal instinct is completely absorbing. Every thought and action she makes is completely justifiable even though I didn’t always agree with it. Should she have replied to Karen’s letter? Unequivocally no, but at the same time I can understand why she did. There was no way on earth that anyone could have predicted what that would mean and the events that proceeded. I like Lizzie and Meg was completely taken in by her story. Absolutely believing that she was the family of the donor. The shock of the revelations was obvious, but the hurt and fear I felt surprised me. Who in their right mind would do what Karen did. Maybe that’s the point, who would be in their right mind after the death of a loved one. So this book was a brilliantly simple concept at first glance with a hugely dramatic twist that was almost impossible to predict. To pack in as much plot as Mackintosh did in just over 100 pages was a brilliant read.

My rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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