Format: ARC, eBook
“You will never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. ” – Bob Marley
Right after graduating from college, Suleika Jaouad was ready to take on the world. She had moved to Paris and to purse her dream of becoming a war correspondence. Life would set her up for a different kind of battle. She began to itch. Not the little itch that we all experience from time to time but a drawn out annoying one that had her waking each day to find scratch marks on her body. It was persistent and did not go away. Then fatigue set in. After many doctor appointments, and right before her twenty third birthday, she was diagnosed with Leukemia with a 35 percent chance of survival.
“Until death, it is all life. ” – Miguel de Cervantes
Life had changed on a dime. She moved back in with her parents, lost her job, her apartment and her ability to freely live her life. She would be in and out of the hospital, facing treatments, exhaustion, fighting for her life all the while chronicling her experiences and illness in the New York Times.
She had many who were there for her as support throughout her long battle which altered her dreams, her relationships and her life goals. Cancer not only took a toll on her body, but on her outlook but also on those in her life. She mentions in the book that “Cancer is greedy.” It ravaged everything and left her to rebuild again.
“Death never comes at a good time…”
When she was declared “cured” what would life look like for her? How do you move forward when those you have met and bonded with are gone? How does such a life altering illness effect your relationship?
I always find it out and often difficult to rate a memoir as I do not want to rate that person’s life and experiences but do want to rate the level of writing and my ability to relate to or learn something from their memoir. Her writing is beautiful, and I am awed by her bravery in sharing just how the cancer ravaged her body. She does not shy away from sharing the details.
Obviously, we know she survives and even thought her career goals changed, she continues to write and wrote an Emmy award winning column titled “Life Interrupted.” Her wok has been featured in magazines and she has created Isolation Journals. She may not be a war correspondent, but she has made an impact in journalism.
This is a moving, thought provoking and powerful memoir.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.