Never Let Me Go is set in a dystopian world in which human clones are created so that they can donate their
organs as young adults. The novel follows the life story of Kathy, a clone who is raised at a boarding school for future donors. It is related in flashback: Kathy is now thirty one and about to start her first donations. !or the past eleven years, she has worked as a carer, a nurse and companion to clones who are in between donations. Kathy reminisces about her time at "ailsham. "er two most important friends were#uth, a charismatic but manipulative and dishonest $ueen bee, and Tommy, a kind boy with a bad temper who is disliked by the other students. Kathy relates a number of anecdotes about how her relationships with #uth and Tommy change over time. "ailsham places a great emphasis on art, writing, and other forms of creativity. % mysterious woman named &adame comes periodically to take the students' best artwork away to an off campus (allery. Tommy is not particularly good at these things and never gets pieces into the (allery, which is part of why he is ostraci)ed. *ne day when he is thirteen, &iss +ucy, a teacher and guardian, informs Tommy that it is all right if he has trouble being creative because it does not matter anyway. Kathy is shocked by this. Kathy relates several anecdotes about #uth's pathological lying. %t one point, #uth pretends to be talented at chess when she does not actually know how to play. %t another, she pretends that a pencil case was a gift from her favorite teacher when in fact she bought it for herself. ,evertheless, Kathy becomes good friends with her, and when she loses her favorite cassette tape--which features a song called ,ever +et &e (o,--#uth tries to help her find it. *ne day, &iss +ucy tries to [Link] to the students about how tragic and difficult their lives will be once they become donors. "owever, the students are unable to process the information. %round age [Link], Tommy and #uth begin dating each other. Kathy is slightly /ealous but tries to hide her feelings for Tommy. % few months after Tommy and #uth get together, the students graduate from "ailsham and go to live at the 0ottage, a more [Link] holding facility where the students are free to drive and otherwise act as they wish. %t the 0ottages, #uth becomes [Link] on impressing the older students, or 1veterans.' Two of these veterans, 0hrissie and #odney, take Kathy, #uth, and Tommy on a trip to ,orfolk because #odney believes he has found #uth's original, the person from whom she was cloned. *n the trip, 0hrissie and #odney confront the younger students about a rumor that if two "ailsham students are truly in
love, they can get their donations deferred so they might have a few years together. ,o one has heard of this program, but #uth pretends that she knows all about it. Tommy and Kathy split from the rest of the group. %t Tommy's suggestion, they look in secondhand stores for the favorite music tape that Kathy lost so many years ago. They find it and have an emotional moment together. #uth begins to notice the growing affection between Kathy and Tommy, and does what she can to sabotage the budding relationship. 2he tells Tommy that Kathy dislikes his drawings, and tells Kathy that Tommy could never fall in love with someone who has had casual se., as Kathy has. Kathy is saddened by the situation, so she voluntarily leaves the 0ottages to begin her carer training. 2everal years later, rumors begin to circulate that "ailsham has closed. *ne day, Kathy encounters an old friend from "ailsham who informs her that #uth has begun her donations and is doing poorly. 3espite their tumultuous relationship when they were young, Kathy volunteers to become #uth's carer. #uth asks Kathy to take her to see an abandoned boat several hours away. Kathy agrees, and they stop to visit Tommy, who has also begun his donations. Tommy's recovery center is near the boat, and Kathy suspects this is why #uth wanted to make the trip. 4hen the trio is back together, #uth apologi)es for keeping Kathy and Tommy apart. 2he encourages them to apply for a deferral so they can have a few years together, and gives them the address of &adame, whom she believes will be able to help. 2hortly after this, #uth dies. Kathy becomes Tommy's carer. 5y this point, Tommy has made three organ donations and is approaching his fourth, which clones generally do not survive. Kathy and Tommy go to visit &adame, who kindly tells them that the deferral program never [Link]. 2he [Link] that "ailsham was a progressive school, and that she and the other guardians were actually activists for the humane treatment of clones. The emphasis on artwork was to show the public that the clones had souls. "owever, the humane treatment movement has petered out and "ailsham has lost its funding. *n the way back to the recovery center, Tommy is overcome with emotion and throws a tantrum. "owever, he gets past this and comes to accept that he will die soon. 5ecause he is suffering from increasingly gruesome medical problems, he asks Kathy to stop being his carer. Kathy reluctantly agrees, and she bids farewell to Tommy as he gets ready to make his fourth donation. 5ack in present day, Kathy is about to make her first donation
herself. 2he is calm and even happy about this, because it will give her a chance to reflect on her life. 2he has only permitted herself one indulgence: a few weeks after Tommy dies, she goes to mourn him in a field in ,orfolk. There, she imagines that all the things she has lost--most importantly, Tommy--will return to her.
