I finally got a chance to see the movie. I read the book by Jodi Picoult a few years ago. Both are good, and both have different endings. I’m a little disappointed by Hollywood’s changing of the end, but it’s good to know that the author has nothing to do with it.

I must remind myself to read that again if I ever have a book that gets made into a movie. Or the next time I go see a movie after reading the book.

My husband told me the new ending made the movie open to a larger audience. I’m still wondering why. He didn’t read the book; he had only my explanation of the differences.

One thing I really enjoyed from a writer’s perspective about this book was that each chapter has a different point of view – and all of it is written in first person. Sometimes, especially during the first chapter of a character we haven’t read, it takes a moment to adjust. I found it intriguing, and it kept me hooked throughout the book.

The central theme is devoted to Anna’s medical emancipation. Her sister Kate had a rare form of leukemia and their parents created Anna as a medical match. What began as a reach for cord blood became a seemingly endless list of other procedures until Anna begins a lawsuit to take control of her body.

I imagined someone very different from Alec Baldwin as the attorney. Not to say he didn’t do a good job- the entire cast sparkled.

Then my husband’s comments come back to me, and I wonder why Hollywood wouldn’t keep the original ending. Who knows what they really want? Both endings were happy and bittersweet in their own ways. And in both of them, Anna wins her lawsuit.

The differences don’t stop me from recommending them, though. They’re thought-provoking and touching.