The Middle Place book review

I just finished reading The Middle Place, by Kelly Corrigan. It is an engrossing memoir about a mom of two little girls fighting breast cancer at the same time her beloved father battles prostate cancer.



Both of my mother's sisters have gone through breast cancer, one has survived it twice and one is going through it now. I also watched a friend go through it and survive. I wanted to read this book because I wanted to hear more about what they went through but wouldn't say. What were they thinking? How did it really feel?
When I am facing something big, especially about someone I love, I tend to just dig in and get aggressive. I totally related to Kelly wanting to know everything and help her dad get through his cancer. Her struggles helped her deal with what was really happening with her dad. I did not know what to ask, what things meant, when my family members when through it.

The only thing I felt that I could do when my friend Julie went through it was to bring her fresh homemade bread after her chemo treatments. She loved it, and it was something she was able to eat and felt like it was a healing food.

Kelly's story made me think about what I would do if I was going through a possibly fatal disease, or if I was to watch one of my parents fighting for their lives. I don't want to leave my children without a mother, and I am not ready to give up my parents.

I think my favorite part of the book is when Kelly was describing a fight she picked with her husband early in their marriage that was clearly irrational. We are all human and do such crazy things!

I recommend this book to anyone who is going through cancer or has someone close to them going through it. It is encouraging, and insightful.

To read the prologue go here. Kelly started a website about cancer: Circus of Cancer Website.