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Between Two Kingdoms
2022: Other Books
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Between Two Kingdoms, Suleika Jaouad; 4 Stars
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Hahtoolah wrote: "Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted, by Suleika Jaouad (2021) is a memoir of a young woman who, at age 22, was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. It started with an uncontroll..."Thank you for your review! This is on my tbr and you have moved it up for me!
While isolated in the hospital, she began to document her treatments, first in a blog, and later in a regular column in the New York Times. The response to her columns was phenomenal and soon she began receiving letters, emails and beginning correspondences with others who were similarly situated.
Shortly before being diagnosed, the author met “Will”. They instantly fell for each other. She feared that he would leave her when he learned she was so ill. He didn’t. He stuck by her throughout her treatments, stayed with her in the hospital, and ensured that she was getting proper care.
Once Jaouad was deemed in remission, she learned how to drive and decided to set out on a 100-day solo road trip across the country to experience her new freedom and to meet some of her “pen-pals” who responded to her blog and newspaper columns. The time alone on the drive allowed her to reflect on her life and her relationships formed during her illness.
The book’s title comes from a line in Susan Sontag’s memoir, Illness as a Metaphor, where Sontag noted that everyone is born with dual citizenship in the kingdom of wellness and the kingdom of sickness. As the author recounts her experience, she realized just how hard it was to adjust in moving from one “kingdom” to the other.
4 Stars