The Wounded Breast

Book excerpt: This is a rare multicultural perspective on disease, particularly cancer, in which the author takes on a journey through the medical establishments, cultural taboos, gender-tagged attitudes and personal stories of different civilisations. It could also be defined as a quest on how human logic relates to illness. The writing itself blends the diary, personal letters, poems and songs with excerpts from some of the foremost authorities in cancer research, producing an effect upon the reader akin to that which she experienced herself, as she moved back and forth between the emotional and physical shock of the cancer experience and the objective scientific data she uncovered. She begins to find cancer everywhere in her physical environment: friends, relatives and people she has never met -- some die. She finds a depth of friendship and support that she had never expected including that of her close companion. While writing her book she sent sections of it to friends, who commented on the text. These honest responses to her story add a further dimension. The structure and content of the book are informed by her deep commitment to women, men, ecology and peace issues. As part of the journey she reads many books on the environment and cancer. Although she lives in the USA and France, the book takes the reader on physical journeys to many other cities including Paris, Tunis and Beirut.