Camille has a blunt way of speaking, even a bit bawdy; afflicted with metastatic breast cancer, she has the right to say “damn,” it’s somewhat her way of asserting herself, of existing.
This female writer describes to us the treatment protocol, the hospital, her husband, her family, her daily battle not to break down. We must look to tomorrow, a new horizon of hope. No, cancer will not win the battle. Even if chemotherapy is hard to bear, we must endure, continue the fight. There are relapses, very well, a counterattack, new medications. We do not give in.
Kathy Dorl’s writing style is without embellishment, without poetic description, a raw world, the kind you encounter every day when you step out of your home. Then there are the neighbors, those who are acceptable, those who are tolerable, and finally the hypocrites, the cold fishes.
The author describes to us the portraits of her surroundings, her loved ones, the hospital staff. She does not fail to mention the charlatans who take advantage of the patients’ distress to sell them an illusory cure.
This novel is a message of hope for cancer patients. “The only truth, in the end, is to lead a passionate life, even if it rebels and smacks you in the face.” Everything is said in this sentence, hope must never be extinguished, after all: things will be better tomorrow!
Thierry Jan
