Many people like to describe cancer as a journey, but cancer, or any illness, is more than a journey, it is an exploration of a new country, a whole continent where the maps are still decorated with fuzzy borders and 'here be dragons' scrawled across great swathes of Terra Incognita.
Ileana von Hirsch started writing a journal as a way to entertain herself and a few friends while dealing with breast cancer. But she soon realised that what she was going through was not only lifting herself up, but was making her friends and fellow patients laugh too.
This is the no-nonsense down-to-earth book that every cancer patient and relative ought to read - the anti-misery memoir, as Ileana puts it, 'that is safe to send to and be read by cancer patients'.
Cancer is not a country that people set out to visit, but if you suddenly find yourself dumped onto its shores, this book gives you a perspective and tips on how to explore your new home - and have a laugh or two on the way.
