Handle With Care

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes depictions of medical procedures and trauma, self-harm, sexual assault, suicide, disordered eating, outdated and offensive mental health beliefs and terminology, police brutality, and the death of a child.

While Willow only has one chapter from her point of view, she serves as one of the novel’s main protagonists. She has Type III OI, and as a result, her eyes “flash” blue when she experiences a bone break. She wants to be independent and often hides minor breaks from her family, pretending she is not in pain. At nearly six years old, Willow is about as tall as an average three-year-old; she gets most upset when people treat her like “a baby” due to her small stature.

Willow is intelligent and reads at sixth-grade level in kindergarten, and she regularly watches Jeopardy!. She loves trivia so much so that her family nicknames her “Wiki” (for Wikipedia).

As Willow’s condition necessitates frequent and costly medical care that insurance does not cover, the novel’s core conflict surrounds Charlotte’s attempt to secure Willow’s financial future through the wrongful birth lawsuit she files against her OBGYN who is also her best friend.