Laurel Lee (1945–2004)

If you'd like to see my copy of the book, it's featured on this week's Shabby Sunday @ https://readrantrockandroll.com/2017/08/27/shabby-sunday-walking-through-fire-wi...

I’m one of those people who believe that everything happens for a reason and this book is just one example. It fell into my hands at our local library book sale after someone had donated it. I have a thing for vintage books as it is, but there was something special about this one. Little did I know, this would be a book that would help me in the near future with my own health struggles.

The book is a hospital journal written by Laurel Lee, a woman who’s just become stricken with Hodgkin’s while pregnant with her third child. This book is her journey with cancer and everything else in between, including her everyday life with marriage and children. Laurel deals with typical life while being faced with multiple challenges alongside a scary situation that threatens her life and the life of her unborn child. She outlines her experiences in this book.

Why is this book a favorite? What I loved most about it was that it’s a journal–a true account that Laurel was willing to share with others regarding her personal trials and tribulations. Her courage shines through and was an inspiration to me before I experienced something similar. Sometimes our health can get in the way of how we want to live our lives. Often we take our health for granted and I think this book does an excellent job of bringing this to our attention, but at the same time, it’s also a celebration of life.

The cover was designed by Laurel and has many little drawings in the text by the author as well. Like me, this book will be forty years old this September and was published in 1977. It’s roughly one hundred and eighteen pages and a quick read. Mine is the first edition hardcover with a dust jacket.

This remains on my shelf permanently. Even though I found it hard to read at times, it’s one of my favorites and gets a 5-star rating from me. I would recommend it to anyone.

5*****… (mais)

Diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of 29 and then abandoned by her husband, leaving her with three young children to raise, Laurel Lee survives the first round of cancer and before she knows it, a small hospital journal is sent to a New York publisher. That book, Walking Through the Fire, takes Laurel and her children on a world-wide adventure of intrigue, challenge and fame. CBS makes a movie of the book and sales of the book and subsequent books exceeded a half a million. And then in the summer of Laurel’s life, when she has at last found true love and health, she hears those dreadful words again, “You have cancer, and you are going to die.” A true and inspiring story.… (mais)