At the age of 22, Suleika Jaouad will be diagnosed with cancer, and what she endures in the years and months that follow is what will lead her to write Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted. Using journal entries, medical records, and interviews, Jaouad recalls this time with stunning clarity, remembering all she gained, as well as all that was lost.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a nonfiction book, or memoir, in which Jaouad chronicles her experience just before and after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Before the actual diagnosis, Jaouad is in college, being sieged by an itch that begins in her feet, and then slowly travels up her legs. Still believing nothing to be serious, she travels to Paris to live and work, only to be sent home months later and receive the diagnosis that will change her life, or at the very least, interrupt it. Jaouad recounts not only the vast amount of time she spends in the hospital, as well as the various treatments she endures that nearly ravage her body, but also the effect her illness has on her relationships with her parents, her boyfriend, and the friends she has on the outside, as well as those in the hospital with her. Something that receives special attention is the patient/caregiver dynamic that can often be hard on the strongest of relationships. And then there is what happens when the treatments are over. Once Jaouad is able to ring the final treatment bell at the hospital, she has several pen pals around the country, and it does not take long for her to realize that her journey is not over.
My Verdict: When Jaouad first leaves Paris, she does what I know I would do (and have done) when something interrupts my plans, and that is immediately insist that the situation is temporary, and that things will get back to normal within a couple of weeks, despite the mounting and persistent evidence to the contrary. Although this takes place fairly early on in the book, I knew I could trust the author to be honest throughout the remainder of the story. Jaouad faces her treatments and many hospital stays head on, not shying away from the harsh details. She is even honest about her relationship with her boyfriend, and admits to her own responsibilities for how everything turned out between them. She takes ownership of her trials, her mistakes, her wins, and her uncertainty over the future. Quite possibly what I appreciate the most about Jaouad's story is her acknowledgement that just because the treatments are done, it does not mean the hard times are over. My only issue is that the final days of her road trip seem glossed over, when the beginning of it is described in incredible and meticulous detail. Overall, it is an incredible story written for anyone whose life did not quite go the way that they wanted.
Favorite Moment: When Jaouad decides to learn how to drive at the age of 26, and subsequently makes all of the mistakes I made at 17.
Recommended Reading: Educated by Tara Westover is one of the most compelling memoirs I have read in recent years.
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