The Breast of Everything

by Lori Berhon

The Revelation won't be televised. It's one thing to say that you hold God in your heart. But what if the body part in question were a little more conspicuous? And what if it started to talk back? Ordinary New Yorker Susan Roth checks into the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for a routine lumpectomy, and checks out with a new bosom buddy. Mam, as her suddenly articulate gland asks to be called, is a miracle, but that doesn't make her the answer to everyone's prayers. Her very existence flies in the face of the more insistent established religions and you can't even show Her on basic cable. But something like this won't be kept under wraps forever. Mam goes viral and, once She does, nothing will ever be the same, not for Susan and not for any of the thousands who listen to what She says and learn to question themselves first of all.

285 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2012

About the author

Novelist, playwright and sometime-actor Lori Berhon lives in her home town of New York City where, technically, she makes her living writing. She is actually taller, slimmer and far more elegant than she appears to be. While her contemporary fiction is written under her own name, Lori also writes ripping Alternative History yarns under the name Merle Darling.

Reviews

[Madge Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My curiosity piqued by the book description and initial reader reviews, I downloaded The Breast of Everything to my kindle and was immediately drawn in. From the opening chapter I was in Susan’s head and seeing through her eyes as she and those around her are transformed by the miracle that is Mam. Ms. Berhon provides a visually rich narrative that sets the scene and creates a mood that makes her characters and their surrounding both familiar and accessible. These are ordinary folks…who could be our friends, our family, us…responding to, and embracing the possibilities afforded by life’s extraordinary events. Think a Stranger in a Strange Land with a 21st century sensibility and a decidedly feminine point of view. Read it! You will not be disappointed.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concept was quite shocking to me, and it took me quite a long time to come to grips with it. The book was very entertaining, and well put together. Fought back tears at the end, at the same time felt uplifted. It's great when a good book can do that for you. I was lucky to have won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway.

[Felicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written and pulls you in. Very different concept. I am not sure how I feel about it in my life personally, but I loved the fact that Mam got the world questioning their beliefs. I like books that question the status quo. The end made me cry (that happens a lot when I read a good book). I am recommending it to my friends. I received this book free from GoodReads First Reads.

[Janet Isenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hesitated for a year to read this book. I felt obliged because Lori is a dear friend. But it turned into a book that I read at all the rude times - out to dinner with my husband and son, on breaks at work - and my eyes were wet at the end. The concept of a talking breast was just too weird, but Mam became a friend and an inspiration. Definitely a must read. You'll love it!

[Amanda J. Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the themes the most and Lori is a descriptive and entertaining writer. As I grew up in Canada and have lived in Europe, I am particulary entertained by the dig at America's puritan, archaic, and ridiculous ban of the human form while not blinking about the violence allowed on those same channels. Well done Lori.

[Sue Dubrovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The story is very original and thought provoking. The characters were all so wonderful and completely three dimensional. The story was full of surprises and I had no idea where the story would take me next. This was a wonderful journey to take with Susan and Mam.