Why am I passionate about this?

I am both a psychologist and a novelist, with each of my professions influencing and shaping the other. Not surprisingly, I am fascinated by people- how they tick, why they do what they do- and am particularly interested in how people behave at times of medical and/or psychological crisis. The topic of organ donation had always interested me in this aspect, but particularly so after the tragic death of my brother at only 39. When the recipient of one of his kidneys reached out to my family three years later we were grateful and gratifiedā€¦ and the idea for Iā€™ll Leave You With This was ignited. 


I wrote

Book cover of I'll Leave You With This

What is my book about?

The Oā€™Shea sisters find themselves driven further apart when the one thing that held them together, their beloved brother Daniel,ā€¦

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Heart

Kylie Ladd Why did I love this book?

Long-listed for the Man Booker International Prize in 2016, this French novel focuses on the 24 hours following the death of teenage Simon in a car accident and the subsequent transplantation of his heart to a terminally-ill young woman.

I loved that this story was told from the points of view of all involved: Simonā€™s grieving family and girlfriend, the doctor who must pronounce him dead, the transplant co-ordinator dealing with both families involved, the recipient ecstatic at her good fortune, but knowing that it comes at the cost of untold grief elsewhere.

Moving, informative, evocative, and terribly ā€“ perhaps ironically ā€“ heart-breaking. 

By Maylis De Kerangal, Sam Taylor (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Heart as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of Bill Gates' "Five Best Summer Reads"

The basis for the critically-acclaimed film, Heal the Living, directed by Katell QuillƩvƩrƩ and starring Tahar Rahim and Emmanuelle Seigner

Albertine Prize Finalist

Winner of the Wellcome Book Prize and the French-American Foundation Translation Prize

Just before dawn on a Sunday morning, three teenage boys go surfing. While driving home exhausted, the boys are involved in a fatal car accident on a deserted road. Two of the boys are wearing seat belts; one goes through the windshield. The doctors declare him brain-dead shortly after arriving at the hospital, but his heart isā€¦


Book cover of My Sister's Keeper

Kylie Ladd Why did I love this book?

Possibly the best-known book revolving around organ donation, My Sisterā€™s Keeper focusses on the ethics of living donations, and specifically whether thirteen-year-old Anna should be compelled to donate a kidney to her dying sister, Kate.

The courtroom drama and family dynamics may not be to everybodyā€™s taste, but the central question ā€“ who gets to live, and at what cost ā€“ is a fascinating and important one.

Warning: the film version of this bestseller commits the most heinous of sins and changes the ending. 

By Jodi Picoult,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked My Sister's Keeper as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sara and Brian Fitzgerald's life with their young son and their two-year-old daughter, Kate, is forever altered when they learn that Kate has leukemia. The parents' only hope is to conceive another child, specifically intended to save Kate's life. For some, such genetic engineering would raise both moral and ethical questions; for the Fitzgeralds, Sara in particular, there is no choice but to do whatever it takes to keep Kate alive. And what it takes is Anna. Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) and Anna (Abigail Breslin) share a bond closer than most sisters: though Kate is older, she relies on her littleā€¦


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Book cover of A Darling Handyman

A Darling Handyman by Lark Holiday,

Sheā€™s hiding from pain. Heā€™s lost everything but his dog. When fresh air and second chances bring them together, can they rediscover true love?

If you enjoy kind-hearted heroes, small towns, and more humor than heat, youā€™ll adore this contemporary Alaskan romance! A Darling Handyman is the feel-good first bookā€¦

Book cover of Tin Heart

Kylie Ladd Why did I love this book?

I adored this Young Adult novel, which follows 17-year-old Marlowe adjusting to life ā€“ adjusting the fact that she will, indeed, have a life ā€“ following a heart transplant.

Born with a congenital defect, Marlowe has spent many years preparing to die; now she must learn how to live, including returning to school, negotiating friendships and romance, and visualising a future for herself. I was particularly moved by Marloweā€™s efforts to find the family of her donor, who in turn want nothing to do with her.

Happy endings can be messy too, and this short, sweet novel encompasses a huge gamut of emotions. 

By Shivaun Plozza,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tin Heart as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Bestselling author of All the Bright Places Jennifer Niven calls emerging talent Shivaun Plozzaā€™s charming and romantic second YA novel, Tin Heart, ā€œfrom cover to cover swoon-worthy, moving, deep, and funnyā€!

When Marlowe gets a heart transplant and a second chance at life, all she wants to do is to thank her donorā€™s family. Maybe then she can move on. Maybe then sheā€™ll discover who she is if sheā€™s no longer The Dying Girl.

But with a little brother who dresses like every day is Halloween, a vegan warrior for a mother, and an all-out war with the hot butcherā€™sā€¦


Book cover of Never Let Me Go

Kylie Ladd Why did I love this book?

Spoiler alert: this is not a novel about conventional organ donation.

Rather, itā€™s a rumination on humanity, morality, science, memory, and power. Following three friends as they come of age at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school, then have to face the truth of what theyā€™re really being nurtured for.

Itā€™s also a dystopian love story and scarily prescient science fiction, and if you donā€™t end the book with a lump in your throat so large that you almost canā€™t breathe youā€™re made of stronger stuff than I am. 

By Kazuo Ishiguro,

Why should I read it?

22 authors picked Never Let Me Go as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of the most acclaimed novels of the 21st Century, from the Nobel Prize-winning author

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize

Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewed version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now thirty-one, Never Let Me Go dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a senseā€¦


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Book cover of Haven

Haven by Valerie Biel,

Taking only what they can quickly pack, 11-year-old Mardella and her mom secretly move away from their abusive home to start a fresh life in Haven, MN. But Mardellaā€™s sure she's to blameā€”if only she hadnā€™t dialed 911, her dad wouldnā€™t be in jail, her mom wouldn't have been fired,ā€¦

Book cover of All My Tomorrows: A Story of Tragedy, Transplant and Hope

Kylie Ladd Why did I love this book?

This is my only non-fiction choice amongst my recommendations, and one that I found extremely helpful after the death of my own brother, Piers.

The authorā€™s teenage son, Chris, dies unexpectedly of a brain aneurysm, as did Piers, and his organs are subsequently transplanted into five recipients ā€“ as were Piersā€™.

Chrisā€™ father chronicles this process and the healing that his family attained from meeting some of Chrisā€™ recipients in this poignant memoir, which is suffused with both grief and hope. Have tissues handy. 

By Eric Gregory,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked All My Tomorrows as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The story that is now a major motion picture: 2 Hearts

No experience is worse than being a parent who has suffered the death of a child. Itā€™s so horrible that the English language doesnā€™t have a word for it.

Chris Gregory, a nineteen-year-old Freshman at Loyola University New Orleans, had a girlfriend. He was rushing a fraternity and although he had had a rough first semester, he told his parents he was certain he was finally getting ā€œthis college thing right.ā€

One night during a casual after-dinner conversation about driverā€™s licenses, Chrisā€™s parents learned that he had opted toā€¦


Explore my book šŸ˜€

Book cover of I'll Leave You With This

What is my book about?

The Oā€™Shea sisters find themselves driven further apart when the one thing that held them together, their beloved brother Daniel, is suddenly killed. Allison is an overworked obstetrician, torn between her job and her young family. Bridie is a languishing film director, whose once glittering career is eclipsed by her husbandā€™s rising stardom. Clare is obsessed by having a baby, so much so it drives a wedge between her and her wife, while Emma has turned to religion to appease her deep loneliness. Then, on the third anniversary of Daniel's death, Clare proposes an idea: they should trace the many recipients saved by his donated organs. Perhaps their brother's gift of life can bring them back together again?

Book cover of The Heart
Book cover of My Sister's Keeper
Book cover of Tin Heart

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