My Sister's Child (Finnerty)

My Sister's Child 
Caroline Finnerty, 2015
Poolbeg Press
380 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781781999448


Summary
My Sister's Child is the story of two sisters, and one huge question.

Jo is the elder sister, responsible and hardworking. Isla is carefree and has always avoided being tied down. The sisters have always had a strained relationship, but when Isla asks Jo for something that rocks the very foundations of the family that Jo has worked so hard to have, she is horrified.

And, as Isla persists in her pleas, Jo fears she will lose the one thing she holds most dearly.

Thought-provoking and compelling, this is a layered and moving story of sisterhood, love and lies and the finely-woven link between nature and nurture that will challenge the way you think about motherhood.

Author Bio
• Birth—November 6, 1980
• Where—Kildare, Ireland
• Education—N/A
• Currently—Kildare, Ireland

Caroline Finnerty is an Irish author and freelance writer living on the banks of the Grand Canal in the County Kildare countryside with her husband, their three young children and their dog.

She is the author of In a Moment, The Last Goodbye, Into the Night Sky and My Sister’s Child. She also compiled the charity anthology If I Was a Child Again in aid of Barnardos.
Caroline has written articles for The Irish Daily Mail, The Star, Woman’s Way Magazine, as well as several parenting magazines. (From the author.)

Visit the author's website.
Follow Caroline of Facebook.

Book Reviews
My Sister's Child is a clever and layered story of love, lies and sisterhood that shines a bright light on the emotional fallout of assisted conception
Irish Independent

Full of suspense, heartbreaking at times, yet uplifting at others, I'd highly recommend this excellent book
Chicklit Club

Discussion Questions
1. Do you think that Isla gave enough consideration to her offer to donate eggs to her sister?

2. Whose "side," if any, were you on?

3. Did you feel empathy for Jo's stance initially? What about afterwards?

4. Jo argues that by virtue of the fact that Isla was the younger of the two of them, that she lived a carefree existence whereas she was burdened down with the weight of expectation. Do you think the position you are born in a family impacts on how you are raised?

5. Isla and Jo have very different attitudes to their mother’s choice to end her own life. Isla is almost ambivalent towards her whereas Jo is angry. Why do you think this is?

6. Do you think Jo is more similar to her mother than she would like to admit? What characteristics do they share?

7. Jo firmly believes that 'nurture' is what matters more so than 'nature'. What is your opinion on the nature versus nurture debate?

8. Modern reproductive techniques throw up a lot of ethical dilemmas for today's society. Do you agree with using a donor to conceive a child?

9. If you were a single woman nearing forty desperate to have a child, would you consider "going it alone" like Isla?

10. Which character do you think grew most over the course of the story?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)

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