"Irreplaceable is tender and dear. It explores the mystery and vagaries of life, with such gentle understanding of the way things can fall apart in an instant and, just as suddenly, come together. Stephen Lovely knows the human heart."
--Luanne Rice, author of Last Kiss

"You may think you know the drama at the center of this accomplished debut novel: the agony and the joy that attends a heart transplant operation. Please, think again. Stephen Lovely has imagined his way deep into the lives of his characters and evoked their varied experiences with remarkable insight and eloquence. In his sure hands it's all been made new-the desperate grief, the wonder of a reclaimed life. Irreplaceable is a rich, poignant, and powerful book."
--John Dalton, author of Heaven Lake

One windy April afternoon, a young woman bicycles alone along a stretch of Iowa highway. She's pedaling hard, hurrying to get home in time for dinner . . .

Alex Voormann is a cerebral thirty-year-old archaeologist married to the woman of his dreams--a beautiful, ambitious botanist named Isabel. When Isabel, an organ donor, is killed by a reckless driver, Alex reluctantly consents to donate her heart.

Janet Corcoran is a young, headstrong mother of two, an art teacher at an inner-city school in Chicago. Sick with heart disease, she is on the waiting list for a transplant, but her chances are slim. She watches the Weather Channel, secretly praying for foul weather and car accidents, a miracle. The day Isabel dies, she gets her wish.

Flash forward a year. Janet sends Alex a long letter. She'd like to learn something about the woman who saved her life. Alex isn't interested in talking to the recipient of his dead wife's heart. Since Isabel's accident, he's become grief-stricken and bewildered. His closest companion is his mother-in-law, Bernice. They spend their nights reminiscing about Isabel and hiding out from the world. Meanwhile, a local blues musician named Jasper, the man responsible for Isabel's death, attempts to atone for his misdeed. Jasper is devastated by the knowledge that he destroyed a life but attracted to the idea that he was partially responsible for saving another life--Janet's. He sees her as his ultimate salvation.

Irreplaceable is the story of what happens after the transplant--not only to Alex but within the concentric circles of family that spiral outward from him and from Janet. Stephen Lovely takes us vividly inside the lives of these characters to reveal their true intentions--however misguided--and gives us a stunning debut novel of loss and love.

2. The author of Irreplaceable tells the story from four points of view — not including those of several minor characters. Do you think this was effective? How so? How would the novel have been different if it had been told from only one point of view? Whose point of you would you have chosen? Why?  
3. Alex is an archaeologist by training, and archaeology, as well as the more general subject of anthropology, appears throughout the novel. What connection does the novel make between archaeology and organ transplantation? What connection between archaeology and the nature of grief?  
4. Why does Janet want to contact Alex after she receives Isabel’s heart? Are her reasons and intentions genuine? If you received a donated heart – or any other major organ – would you try to contact the donor family? Why or why not?  
5. Why does Alex react so negatively to Janet’s attempts to approach him? Did you find his resistance justified? Why or why not? How would you react if you were in his place?  
6. What kind of person is Janet? Do you like her? Do you respect her? What are her admirable attributes? What are her flaws? Is she a good person? Is she a good mother?  
7. What kind of person is Alex? What are his admirable attributes? What are his flaws? What do you think of his behavior throughout the novel? Is he a better person at the beginning or at the end?  
8. Alex’s relationship with Bernice is complex. What draws them together? What divides them? Do you find their bond understandable or disturbing?  Why?  
9. Janet’s husband David has difficulty, at various stages pre and post-transplant, dealing with her illness. Is David a bad husband? Do you sympathize with him?  
10. What do you think of Jasper? What drives him to seek out Alex and Bernice and behave the way he does? How would you behave if you were so unfortunate as to find yourself in his position?  
11. Part 2 of Irreplaceable goes into the past and, in alternating chapters, tells the story of Janet’s illness and hospitalization, pre-transplant, alongside a contemporaneous account of Alex and Isabel’s day to day life. Why do you think the author chose to structure this part of the novel in this way? Did you find it effective?  
12. Do you think Alex’s grieving process ultimately would have been easier if Isabel had not elected to donate her organs? If there were no part of her still alive in another person? Why or why not? What about for Bernice?  
13. One could make the argument that we all have, at one time or another, for a few seconds or even longer, failed to pay adequate attention to the road while driving. The vast majority of us never kill anyone. Was Jasper just unlucky? If so, is he a victim, as he claims? How sorry for him should we feel? Which of the novel’s other characters expresses the most empathy with him?  
14. What do you think of the scene in Janet’s apartment when she lets Alex listen to Isabel’s heart beating in her chest? What kinds of thoughts go through his mind? How does this event affect his grieving? What does he mean when he thinks “Isabel’s body is incontrovertibly gone. It must be, if this isn’t it.”  
15. How do you feel about becoming an organ donor? Has reading Irreplaceable made you more interested in doing so or less?

This book is on these lists:

• April 2012 Indie Next List
• March 2012 Indie Next List
• February 2012 Indie Next List