In her
novel,
Who is Julia? Barbara Harris invents the strange
case of "Julia and Mary Frances." Mary Frances is out for a
walk with her young
child when suddenly the
child breaks away and runs in front of a
streetcar. Julia, who is
nearby,
sees what is about to
transpire and
throws herself in front of the the
child,
pushing her to
safety.
Unfortunately, a
double tragedy ensues. Julia, in her
effort to
save the
child, falls across the
tracks and is crushed by the
streetcar.
Meanwhile, Mary Frances,
fearing that her
child will be
hit, has a
stroke and
collapses on the
sidewalk. Both
women are
clinically dead.
But just then, Dr. Matthews, a
brilliant neurosurgeon, happens by. She
directs the
emergency workers to take the
women to her nearby
clinic where she performs a
macabre procedure. While the
trunk of Julia's
body was
crushed in the
accident, her
brain was
untouched. Mary Frances, however,
suffered irreparable brain damage though her
body remained
intact. Dr. Matthews decides that, for the
sake of
both, she will
insert Julia's
good brain into Mary Frances'
good body.
The
operation was a
success. The
question is, however, who is the
person lying in the
recovery room?