“Never Let Me Go” is about a group of young people growing up in unusual circumstances at Hailsham Boarding School. Their teachers are referred to as “guardians”, and they behave, most of the time, like normal teenagers.
However they were conceived as clones, so that they could provide vital organs once they had grown up. They aren’t taught the usual subjects, with the intention of continuing on to a career of their choice. Instead they go on to be carers, taking care of other donors, until it is their time to donate.
They are encouraged to be creative and produce art and craft works. The best are chosen by “Madame” to be taken to her gallery. The other works can be bought and sold by the students.
The story concentrates on three of the students, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy and is told by Kathy. Kathy and Tommy have developed a bond from a young age, however as they grow up, it is Ruth and Tommy who become a couple. They leave Hailsham when they are about 16yrs to go on to the Cottages. There their personalities develop and they struggle to keep the closeness that they had at boarding school.
This would be a fairly average story if it was just about three teenagers growing up. However, as the story unfolds, you realise that they are not normal teenagers and you begin to wonder about the idea of bringing up children purely with the intention of using them as organ donors. It’s not a new concept. Couples have gone on to have babies with the intention of using them to cure their ill children. Hopefully they’re not doing it with the coldness that is done when creating clones, and will love the second child as much as the first. But these teenagers were growing up, not having parents and not knowing where they came from.
A very interesting and thought provoking book.
