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Ruth
Picardie was a British magazine editor who, a scant year after treatment
for breast cancer, ended up leaving behind her career, her husband,
her twins, and her life. She also left behind a witty and altogether
enlightening collection of e-mails to friends and family in which
she documented her illness, as well as the seven columns she wrote
for a British magazine, and assorted essays by her family members.
It is a heart wrenching and altogether Bridget Jones-ish tale of
a woman's last year on this earth. It is a brave and cherished document
of a vital life who waited until the last possible minute to let
go of her life force.
Picardie's writing is so warm and friendly that you find it difficult
to believe that this woman was actually going through the toughest
part of her life, trying to keep in touch with friends and family
and facing the unenviable task of preparing for her death --- with
equal parts hope, denial, and resignation. Clearly, the woman was
a great writer.
There
are many parts of this book that will find you in tears --- the
love this woman has for life, her young age (only 32), her happy
family that is being torn to extremes by her tragedy, will all move
you in a profound way. It is particularly stirring to have her sister
and husband commenting on her travails, as is the inclusion of the
letters Ruth left behind for each of her twins before her death.
BEFORE I SAY GOODBYE may be a small volume but it packs the wallop
of a life well-lived and turned off much too soon.
--- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano
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