Join us for this tour from May 10 to May 28, 2021!
Book Details:
Book Title:
Again: Surviving Cancer Twice with Love and Lists
Author: Christine Shields Corrigan
Category: Adult Non-Fiction (18+), 256 pages
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Koehler Books
Release date: Oct 2020
Content Rating: PG-13.
My book has some profanity and one non-explicit sex scene with my
husband.
"This no-nonsense debut memoir recalls Corrigan's two-time battle with
cancer and takes a pragmatic approach toward guiding other
patients. Candid, sagacious writing on illness and adaptation."
--Kirkus Reviews
Book Description:
A breast cancer diagnosis at forty-nine forces Christine Shields Corrigan,
a wife, mom, and meticulous list-maker, to confront her deepest fears of
illness, death, and loss of control as she struggles to face cancer again.
From the discovery of a “junky” cyst, to chemotherapy and surgery, sleepless
nights filled with rosaries and “what ifs,” and shifting family dynamics,
her adult experience mirrors her teen bout with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, with one
exception—she no longer has parents keeping her in the dark.
With the ghosts of cancer past hovering around her, Chris falls into the
same overprotective traps her taciturn Irish-Catholic parents created,
striving to keep her family’s life “normal,” when it is anything but, and
soldiering through on her own, until a neighbor’s unexpected advice and gift
move her to accept others’ help. With fierce honesty, poignant reflection,
and good humor, Chris shares a journey filled with sorrow, grace,
forgiveness, and resilience, as she winds her way through cancer for the
second time. Again offers practical guidance and hope to individuals that
they have the strength to forge a path beyond a diagnosis.
Guest Post
How Not to Tell Your Children You Have Cancer
By: Christine Shields Corrigan
Telling children that a parent has cancer is one of the most
difficult things a newly diagnosed parent must face. Chapter Six in Again: Surviving Cancer Twice with Love and
Lists addresses this subject, and it was the hardest chapter to write
because I did it so incredibly poorly.
At first blush, a parent's instinct may be to avoid telling
the children in order to protect them. In 1981 when I was a teenager diagnosed
with Hodgkin's disease, my parents didn’t tell me that I had cancer, but that I
had a blood disease. This left me bewildered every time I had radiation therapy
in a hospital filled with very sick children. I couldn’t understand why I had
to come this hospital when I didn’t feel sick and only had a “blood disease.”
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, my husband
and I decided that we would tell our children when we had all of the relevant
information—diagnosis, treatment plan, prognosis—so that we would be on the
same page. It seemed like a good plan at the time. In 2016, our children were
ages 19, 15 and 10—a freshman in college, a freshman in high school and a
fifth-grader.
In my head, I thought that we share the information during a
family dinner. My husband and I would let the kids ask their questions, answer
them as best we could, and cry about the news together. Despite our best
intentions, it didn't work out as I'd hoped; our college-aged daughter felt betrayed
and hurt when my husband told her that I had breast cancer when I was one
hundred miles away from home at a swim meet with my high school son.
In retrospect, my plan to share the information at one time made
a difficult and stressful time much harder. If I had it to do over again,
instead of trying to control the narrative, I would have shared the information
as I received it, particularly with my college-aged daughter and teenage son.
Meet the Author:
Christine Shields Corrigan is a two-time cancer survivor, wife, mom, and
author of Again: Surviving Cancer Twice with Love and Lists. In addition to
Again , Chris has published a number of lyrical and practical essays where
she gives voice to the beautiful ordinary. Her work about family, illness,
writing, and resilient survivorship has appeared in anthologies, magazines,
and other publications including, The Brevity Blog, Grown & Flown, Horn
Pond Review, The Potato Soup Journal and Anthology, Purple Clover,
Ravishly.com, Wildfire Magazine, and the Writer’s Circle 2 Anthology.
Chris’ essay, “Not Back to But Forward,” about how her cancer experiences
helped her cope with COVID-19 is included in (Her)oics: Women’s Lived
Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic (edited by Joanell Serra and Amy
Roost), an anthology that draws together the stories of 52 women across the
US during the Covid-19 pandemic (March 2021). A graduate of Manhattan
College and Fordham University School of Law, Chris built a successful
career as a labor and employment law attorney and as a legal writer and
editor. After surviving cancer in midlife, Chris became a freelance writer.
She also teaches creative nonfiction writing for an adult education program,
provides writing workshops for cancer support groups, and is the chair of
the programming committee of the Morristown Festival of Books. She lives in
New Jersey with her family.
Tour Schedule:
May 24 –
Lamon Reviews
– book spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Enter the Giveaway:
AGAIN: Surviving Cancer Twice with Love and Lists Book Tour Giveaway
2 Comments
Thanks for spotlighting Again and sharing it with your readers!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome! :)
DeletePlease try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.