I don’t quite remember why I got this book.  It was actually available at the library, it had great reviews, it was a memoir, and the sample struck me right. Also it really felt like something I could stand to read right now even if it deals with cancer and possible death, it seemed like it could be inspirational in some way.   

Between Two Kingdoms:
A Memoir of a Life Interrupted  
by Suleika Jaouad,  2021
Read by author – 13h 2m – 
Rating: 8/memoir, cancer/grief/recovery

Suleika Jaouad, whose parents are Tunisian Muslim and Swiss Catholic was only 22 years old when she was diagnosed with myeloid leukemia (blood cancer) and given about a 35% chance of survival.  With a very supportive family and boyfriend,  treatment was started, but it wasn’t a smooth road. There were all sorts of hurdles and unexpected setbacks. She found writing as a creative outlet and that worked for her while life went on whether she was in the hospital or not, on chemo or not. 

When she was finally released from actual treatment she remembered what one of her readers had written to her, that the end of treatment was just the beginning of recovery. She realized she was moving forward knowing there would be no 100% recovery.  And then we have Part 2. 

Suleika’s journey in Part 2 from the link at the bottom of the page:

Out of treatment, she contacts patients and others she’s known one way or another through treatment and travels cross-country to see some of them. The rest of the book shows the reader how Suleika heals and and stretches herself and the ways many of her friends and penpals are getting their lives back or making new ones. They’re  adjusting to living life with a new awareness, but Suleika has a hard time letting go and moving on.

This was a nice relaxing read – just right for now. It reminded me there are people who have it a lot worse than I do with my age and ailments and recoveries of many kind’s.  And there are people who even have it worse than those people who have it a lot worse than I do.  I’m grateful for what I have. 

Suleika is the author of the “Life Interrupted” blog/column in the New York Times which she started working on during her illness. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suleika-jaouads-journey-between-two-kingdoms