Between Me and the River – A Review

On Carrie Host's Memoir About her Battle With Cancer

Oct 26, 2009

In a very poignant and touching glimpse of a woman's inner battle with cancer, Carrie Host delivers healing words for those who have suffered and their families.

Watching a loved one battle cancer is probably one of life's hardest and most emotional lessons that anyone can be put through. Often times when a loved one is under going such a scary and life threatening challenge, we as family seek to comfort them in what ails them the most which usually is a more physical need as opposed to tending to their emotional needs at the time.

The word cancer brings up a lot of questions and fear for anyone involved and it is in that fear that makes us often lose sight of what is most important – being there in every way for the person who is suffering. Host provides an inner-glimpse on just what that entails.

A View of the Inner-Most Emotions of a Cancer Patient

What Carrie Host describes most beautifully in her memoir are her feelings, thoughts and emotions that she underwent while being diagnosed with what very well may have been terminal cancer. She lends to readers, especially those who are the survivors of a loved one's passing, a glimpse into the mindset and turmoil that a cancer patient undergoes while the rest of the world remains preoccupied with trying to wrap their heads around their own mortality and what the word "cancer" truly implies.

Strong Use of Metaphors

Using a river as a metaphor for the turbulent and undefined nature of cancer, Host delves into this connection throughout the course of her memoir. It is this strong use of literary imagery that pushes Host's memoir into a different category, one that creates a strong and realistic relation to the reader so much so that even the most unemotional of people will be touched by Carrie Host's impressive command and creativity when it comes to the English language.

Host's Honesty

Beyond her impressive ability to write and relate to her readers, Host's honesty is what glaringly stands out from her book most of all. Her thoughts on herself, her children and her family are poignant and real with each new entry. She holds nothing back, regardless of how emotional it may be. It is because of this that Carrie Host's memoir speaks to the reader and makes it easy to relate to her and her story even if cancer is not part of the reader's background.

As Carrie Hosts concludes in her memoir, "I continue to allow myself the luxury of sitting here in the quiet of the night where nothing will threaten to interrupt the effortless feeling of wonder. This is the joy of life's continuous unfolding. This precious emptiness has a sound. It is the sound of the river," she closes her memoir with her strong insight revealing her new lease on life and the time that she has suddenly been given back.

Her message is one of hope and love which can help many readers overcome the wounds that are inflicted by their own cancer or by the tragedy of losing someone they cherish to such a horrendous illness.