Shortlisted for the Baillie-Gifford Prize for Nonfiction

A riveting and inspiring true story of two families linked by one heart—written by a bestselling author and palliative care doctor.

The first of our organs to form and the last to die, the heart is both a simple pump and the symbol of what makes us human; as long as it continues to beat, there is hope. In The Story of a Heart, Dr. Rachel Clarke interweaves the history of medical innovations behind transplant surgery with the story of two children—one of whom desperately needs a new heart.

One summer day, nine-year-old Keira Ball was in a terrible car accident and suffered catastrophic brain injuries. As the rest of her body began to shut down, her heart continued to beat. In an act of extraordinary generosity, Keira’s parents and siblings immediately agreed that she would have wanted to be an organ donor. Meanwhile nine-year-old Max Johnson had been in a hospital for nearly a year, valiantly fighting the virus that was causing his young heart to fail. When Max’s parents received the call they had been hoping for, they knew it came at a terrible cost to another family—in what Clarke calls “the brutal arithmetic of transplant surgery.”

The act of Keira’s heart resuming its rhythm inside Max’s body was a medical miracle. But this was only part of the story. While waiting on the transplant list, Max had become the hopeful face of a campaign to change the UK’s laws around organ donation. Following his successful surgery, Keira’s mother saw the little boy beaming on the front page of the newspaper and knew it was the same boy whose parents had recently sent her an anonymous letter overflowing with gratitude for her daughter’s heart. The two mothers began to exchange messages and eventually decided to meet.

This is the unforgettable story of how one family’s grief transformed into a lifesaving gift. Clarke relates the urgent journey of Keira’s heart and explores the history of the remarkable surgery that made it possible, stretching back over a century and involving the knowledge and dedication not just of surgeons but of countless nurses and technicians, immunologists and paramedics. The Story of a Heart is a testament to compassion for the dying, the many ways we honor our loved ones, and the tenacity of love.

About The Author

Photograph courtesy of the author

Rachel Clarke

Dr. Rachel Clarke is a palliative care doctor and author of three Sunday Times (London) bestselling books: Breathtaking, Your Life in My Hands, and Dear Life, which was shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award, longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize, and chosen as a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. Prior to medical school, Clarke worked as a broadcast journalist. She writes for many publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Sunday Times (London), and she makes regular television and radio appearances on outlets including the BBC, among others. She lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and two children.

Product Details

Publisher: Scribner (September 10, 2024)
Length: 256 pages
ISBN13: 9781668045435

Raves and Reviews

“An emotionally compelling account of the traumatic and miraculous ramifications of an organ transplant…Telling this true story with dramatic pace, medical precision and characteristic warmth, The Story of a Heart is Rachel Clarke’s finest book yet.” —Financial Times

"Clarke braids a rigorous scientific and cultural history of transplant medicine with the story of two children...The narrative about Keira and Max's families, and the team of professionals caring for them all, is very touching. Clarke never strips Keira of her humanity; the story of her heart, and her life, continues to help others in this informative, important book." —BookPage

“Thoughtful and sensitive, this book not only illuminates a little-discussed topic but also reveals that just as medical science has wrought miracles, it has also raised ‘profound questions about what it means to be alive.’ A poignantly celebratory tale.” —Kirkus Reviews

“This book is FASCINATING. Rachel Clarke is the ideal writer to bring us this story, thanks to her medical knowledge but more importantly her curiosity and sensitivity. Even hearing a sliver of this makes you hunger to learn more. Rare is the writer who could thoroughly understand and synthesize the details and put it all together so beautifully for the reader. Profoundly moving and wildly inspiring, Clarke maps new frontiers.” —Rob Delaney, author of A Heart That Works

“The best narrative nonfiction I’ve read in years. Rachel Clarke has written a profound piece of investigative journalism and wrapped it up in poetry. A story of death, and life, and how one incredible family gifted a miracle to another.” —Christie Watson, author of The Language of Kindness

“Rachel Clarke's narrative forces us to confront the highs and lows of the human condition, blissfully joyous and mercilessly painful. As a former transplant physician turned ICU doctor, I can attest to the searing accuracy of her scalpel. Clarke's storytelling sings, and leaves me awash in gratitude and awareness of my own beating heart.” —Wes Ely, MD, author of Every Deep-Drawn Breath

“With exquisite sensitivity, Clarke describes how the two families collided in grief and hope, helped by the miracle of science. I read this through a veil of tears.” —Anjana Ahuja in The New Statesman