February 2010 Good Housekeeping selection.

There are key things that put unusually sharp focus on our lives and bring into vivid perspective why we love the people we do. Kelly Corrigan’s awareness of a ‘middle place’ – the time when you are busy giving praise to your children and yet still seeking praise from your parents – took hold when she was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 36 and then discovered her father had late-stage prostate cancer. Her fear spread rapidly to her husband, her two young girls, her father and her mother. This New York Times bestseller is an instinctively fine-tuned, vibrant and funny account of Corrigan’s anger and frustration and reflections on her marriage, children and childhood.

Synopsis

For Kelly Corrigan, family was everything. At thirty-six, she had a marriage that worked, two funny, active kids, and a weekly newspaper column. Yet even as a thriving adult, Kelly still saw herself as the daughter of garrulous charmer George Corrigan. She was living deep within what she calls the Middle Place - 'that sliver of time when parenthood and childhood overlap' - comfortably wedged between her adult duties and her parents' care.

But Kelly is abruptly shoved into coming-of-age when she finds a lump in her breast - and gets the diagnosis no one wants to hear. When George, too, learns that he has late-stage cancer, it is Kelly's turn to take care of the man who had always taken care of her - and to show us a woman who finally takes the leap and grows up.

Reviews

'Bravely reveals the frightened daughter inside the grown-up wife and mother' Elle

'The stars of this memoir - a daughter and her devil-may-care dad - believe laughter is curative. They will make you believe, too' Good Housekeeping

'More complex - and funny - than one would ever imagine ... It's a candid account of a woman unafraid to reveal the scared, jealous, and immature sides of herself while painting a portrait of her rollicking, fun-loving Irish Catholic parents and brothers who bolster her, and the husband who understands and loves her' San Francisco Chronicle

'Corrigan infuses her prose with vivacity and humor. She explores that process called growing up, and how it can happen in a defining moment, like a lightening strike, but also how it is illuminated in less dramatic ones, like flickers of heat lightning in a summer sky' BookPage

'Kelly Corrigan's charming, captivating memoir recounts her attempts to straddle the so-called middle place - that time in life when you're both daughter and mother' Family Circle

About the Author

Kelly Corrigan is, more than anything else, the mother of two young girls. While they're at school, Kelly writes a newspaper column and the occasional magazine article and possible chapters of a novel. She is also the creator of CircusOfCancer.org, a website to teach people how to help a friend through breast cancer. Kelly lives outside San Francisco with her husband, Edward Lichty, and their children. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation