Charles Martin "When the crickets cry"

Author: Charles Martin Original title: When Crickets Cry Genre: Novel Medical topics: heart defect, heart transplant, cardiac surgery Year of first publication: 2008 Description: A small town in the United States, situated on Lake Burton. Reese, a man living in the shadows and in isolation, with a broken heart, and Annie, a little girl suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy due to a congenital heart defect, in urgent need of a transplant. The author gradually reveals Reese’s past to us, his dreams and his quest to gain absolute knowledge of the heart, which led him to Harvard and a career as a cardiac surgeon, while simultaneously depicting the needs and actions of the increasingly frail Annie, who sells lemonade and crickets at the market to raise the money needed for her transplant. At a certain point, the fates of these two people, who have more in common than they realize, become inextricably intertwined. Both need new hearts to continue living. Medical professionals may not appreciate the very simple, even banal, descriptions of the heart’s function and cardiac surgery. However, it is important to remember that this is merely a social novel, intended for a general audience, and as such, it is capable of captivating and enchanting readers.