Before I Say Goodbye: Recollections and Observations from One Woman's Final Year - Softcover

Picardie, Ruth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0805066128 ISBN 13: 9780805066128

Publisher: Holt Paperbacks, 2000

Synopsis

By turns humorous and heart-rending, an unforgettable account of a young woman's spiritual triumphs over breast cancer in the last year of her life

Ruth Picardie was only thirty-three when she died, a month after her twins' second birthday and just under a year after she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. For Ruth, a journalist, it seemed natural to write about her illness. She published only five columns for Observer Life magazine before she became too sick to continue, but her moving, funny, and very human account drew a huge response from readers all over England.

Before I Say Goodbye juxtaposes these columns with correspondence from readers, e-mails to her friends, letters to her children, and reflections by her husband and her sister. The result is a courageous and moving book, entirely devoid of self-pity, that celebrates the triumph of a brave and wonderful woman's spirit. An international bestseller in England, Picardie's sobering yet ultimately life-affirming book is destined to become a classic.

About this title

Review:

"Chemo was vile," writes editor and freelance writer Ruth Picardie in an e-mail. "Imagine four days of the worst hangover combined with the worst flu, where you can hardly move, feel poisoned, and are half-asleep but not pleasantly out of it all the time." Before I Say Goodbye is a collection of columns and e-mails from Picardie in her last year before dying of breast cancer at age 33. The short (131-page) book also includes e-mails from her friends and letters from her readers.

Before I Say Goodbye provides an intimate glimpse into Picardie's life, friendships, and state of mind in that last year. As much as breast cancer consumed her (physically and mentally), she still had comments about her correspondents' issues (one is HIV-positive) and about trivial matters, such as clothing, face creams, body weight, and television ("ER tonight, which gives life meaning"). She also offered some provocative insights:

• "Went to see Evita the movie.... Eva Peron died of breast cancer and guess what: the c-word isn't mentioned once. The great unmentionable."
• "Fun things about breast cancer: 1. You get your hair cut really short because it's falling out, and it really suits you. You decide to keep it that way forever. 2. You can be really horrible to people and not feel guilty."
• "Having a terminal illness is supposed to make you extremely wise and evolved.... Unfortunately, I just can't get my head around Zen meditation, and seem to be stuck in, 'Why did I eat the fishfingers that Lola spat out when I can't fit into my jeans any more?'... Still, one of the women at my support group recently lost a lot of weight. On Monday night, she died." --Joan Price

About the Author:

Ruth Picardie was raised and educated in London, Oxford, and Cardiff, England. She studied social anthropology at Cambridge University. After graduation, she worked as an editor and freelance writer for numerous magazines and newspapers. A happily married mother of twins, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age thirty-two. She died in September of 1997.

About this edition

• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0805066128
• ISBN 13: 9780805066128
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128