Breast Cancer at 35 - Amy Burns

Using a candid, raw, and humorous voice, Amy Burns wraps the reader in the intimacy and upheaval of her emotions as she struggles through her breast-cancer diagnosis. Her memoir offers unmatched insight into an experience that, unfortunately, has become far too prevalent and common among women. While sharing the news of her cancer diagnosis with her husband while still on the phone with the nurse, she writes, "I mouth it to you--the hard C of it choking my confidence and/ catching on my tonsils./ After the news, / I see your eyelids like wet newsprint." Later, she admits that her "prayers are more fervent now, / dogged like spring leaves, / warm and sticky with a baited question." The language she carefully selects encapsulates the hopes and fears of any woman hearing the words, "This might be cancer," as well as anyone who's there to hold her hand. This is an honest story of hope, lightheartedness, and frankness for women who either have breast cancer or know someone who does.