Customer Reviews

Dance When the Brain Says No

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This is a book by a mother whose vivacious and strong-willed daughter developed a medulloblastoma brain tumour when she was 19 and died from it two and half years later. It is based around writings (letters, notes and poems) by the daughter, Leslie Doyle, and a narrative by her mother Kathleen. Chapters about Leslie's life before the emergence of the tumour alternate with chapters about her journey with the tumour. It is a story about Leslie, Kathleen, her then husband Mike, their adopted son Dan, and the various people who were part of this journey - medicos, health professionals, College friends, boyfriends, and even those who only had brief walk-on parts.

It is an intensely sad but rewarding book. I read it in one sitting on Christmas Day, the book having arrived unexpectedly via Amazon on Christmas Eve.

The human spirit has an undeniable tendency to tell cancer to shove it. "Dance When the Brain Says No" is the memoir of a mother who reflects on her daughter's brain tumor diagnosis, her determination to live her life in spite of the disease, and the inspiration her tenacity brought to bear. "Dance When the Brain Says No" will be of interest to anyone seeking inspirational cancer memoirs.

I read this book from cover to cover without a break. It held my attention because of the tension set up by the author by the juxtaposition of chapters about the diagnosis and treatment of a young woman's brain cancer with chapters about her life leading up to the diagnosis. One knows that the illness is coming while Leslie is leading a life of excitement and promise after graduating from high school, completely unaware of what is to come. Leslie's own poems and essays and heart-wrenching journals are interspersed. I hope that her mother's gripping memoir will help bring to light the contributions that Leslie would undoubtedly have brought to the world had she lived.