Happy Thursday everyone!
This was the perfect book to read in October for breast cancer awareness month. A story about the mother daughter relationship full of hope, heart and family!🎀
My Thoughts
Heather Frimmer thoughtfully navigates the mother daughter relationship in this emotional debut. The story is told from the alternating perspectives of mother Joyce and daughter Marnie. Joyce has recently taken some time away from working as a receptionist at her husband‘s dental office to help plan Marnie‘s upcoming wedding. Marnie is in her final year of medical school and about to be married. When Joyce discovers a lump in her breast that turns out to be cancer she struggles with the best way to tell her daughter. Marnie is not only struggling to finish medical school but also trying to figure out how to balance being a doctor and being human. What follows is a real and emotional story about these strong yet vulnerable women.
Miss Frimmer is a physician and I think she did a wonderful job of weaving her medical knowledge into this story. I found Joyce’s character extremely relatable. Just like her I am the mother of adult children, and I can totally see myself confiding in the clerk at the HomeGoods store. Also like her I found a lump in my breast( that thankfully was not cancer), but it was a scary wake up call. I also have to say she must have better medical insurance then me because they just zipped her in to every appointment she needed, it seem to take me forever to get all the necessary tests. Marni’s experiences in the hospital as a med student just reaffirmed the fact that I would never want to work in the medical profession. But I do appreciate the fact that so many people have the passion and desire to be a doctor or nurse. While a large portion of this book’s focus was medical the overall message was one that is relatable to all of us. This is a book about following your heart and enjoying every day to its fullest. A story full of hope, heart, and family!
This book in emojis: 👩🏻⚕️ 👩🏻🎨 👩👧 🦷 🎀
About the Book
As Joyce Novak’s daughter, Marnie, completes medical school and looks ahead to a surgical internship, her wedding, and a future filled with promise, a breast cancer diagnosis throws Joyce’s own future into doubt. Always the caregiver, Joyce feels uncomfortable in the patient role, especially with her husband and daughter. As she progresses through a daunting treatment regimen including a biopsy, lumpectomy, and radiation, she distracts herself by planning Marnie’s wedding.
When the sudden death of a young heroin addict in Marnie’s care forces Marnie to come face-to-face with mortality and her professional inadequacies, she also realizes she must strike a new balance between her identity as a doctor and her role as a supportive daughter. At the same time, she struggles with the stark differences between her fiancé’s family background and her own and comes to understand the importance of being with someone who shares her values and experiences.
Amid this profound soul-searching, both Joyce and Marnie’s futures change in ways they never would have expected.
About Heather:
Heather Frimmer is a physician by day, specializing in diagnostic radiology and breast imaging, and an avid reader and writer at all other times. A published book reviewer across multiple websites, including Books, Ink and Booktrib, and a member of the Westport Writers’ Workshop, she lives in Connecticut with her husband and two sons.
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