Mend the living cover

Mend the living

by Maylis de Kerangal

A twenty-four-hour whirlwind of death and life. This is the heart of Simon Limbeau. This is the black box of his twenty-year-old body, circulating five litres of blood each minute, compressing itself a hundred thousand times each day. No bigger than a fist, yet it is capable of pumping blood through sixty thousand miles of blood vessels. This heart has leaped, swelled, melted, sunk, and now, on this glacial winter night, it rests and recharges, readying itself for the day ahead. 5.50 a.m. This is his heart. And here is its story.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?