THE PERFECTION OF HOPE

Macfarlane, Walter & Ross, Toronto, 1997, 1st.  ISBN 1-55199-016-4.  Trade soft cover, 229 pages.  Unread remaindered copy with light edge wear; a few small age spots on outer page block.  ‘When Elizabeth Simpson was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1994, she wondered if her life was over.  In some ways, as this remarkable book attests, her life had just begun.  Subjected to an experimental and potentially lethal combination of chemotherapy and radiation, she emerged frail and frightened.  Happily, the treatment put her into remission.  To regain her health, she began seeking out alternative therapies, changed her diet, avoided stress, and walked each day by the ocean.  She also began writing the stories in this book.  Unsparing, poetic, and heartfelt, the stories explore the idea that hope may be a powerful medicine in maintaining and regaining health.’ (from rear wrap)