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A review by sianhthomas
Before I Go by Colleen Oakley
4.0
From Rebel Angel
I knew from the description that this was going to be a good read, but I kept putting it off because I also knew something else: it was inevitably going to be sad. Daisy, a 27 year old woman who has already beaten breast cancer, finds that it has returned, and with a vengeance. It is now terminal and affecting various parts of her body. Given a matter of months to live, we follow her journey through diagnosis and living with grief before she even feels the affects of the cancer on her body, until she realises the one thing that's most important to her: her husband, and ensuring his happiness and how he will survive without her. She decides to do one thing before she goes, find a new, and suitable, wife for him.
It is, of course, a distressing book. It's something that most of us can't even begin to imagine happening in our lives, but it feels so real. You experience everything she does, from the denial to the depression and the fear. It's another that makes you think, but brings that thinking much closer to home. Daisy is a brilliant, lively character - even in dying, she's full of life. Despite the content, it was a fairly quick read - mostly because I wanted to know what happened - and good to read. I'd definitely recommend this one.
I knew from the description that this was going to be a good read, but I kept putting it off because I also knew something else: it was inevitably going to be sad. Daisy, a 27 year old woman who has already beaten breast cancer, finds that it has returned, and with a vengeance. It is now terminal and affecting various parts of her body. Given a matter of months to live, we follow her journey through diagnosis and living with grief before she even feels the affects of the cancer on her body, until she realises the one thing that's most important to her: her husband, and ensuring his happiness and how he will survive without her. She decides to do one thing before she goes, find a new, and suitable, wife for him.
It is, of course, a distressing book. It's something that most of us can't even begin to imagine happening in our lives, but it feels so real. You experience everything she does, from the denial to the depression and the fear. It's another that makes you think, but brings that thinking much closer to home. Daisy is a brilliant, lively character - even in dying, she's full of life. Despite the content, it was a fairly quick read - mostly because I wanted to know what happened - and good to read. I'd definitely recommend this one.