Customer Reviews

Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I suppose this novel is remarkable on one level for its thoughtful but not heavy-handed treatment of breast cancer. I notice other reviewers have devoted considerable words to that aspect. However, where I think this book has carved itself a new niche in mainstream fiction is that it shows us the slow but gradual evolution of a friendship and its coming to full flower in the online world. We've certainly read a great deal about sexual messes men and women have gotten themselves into online. This writer, however, focuses on something a lot quieter taking place and arguably more powerful. This is the formation of lifelong relations with others through a medium of communication which never existed before. In a way, these two women are the Lewis & Clark of exploring life in the cyber world. Is it possible to form a completely life altering, life bonding relationship without physically being in the presence of another? We knew from history that a few achieved it with letters and now we can see how it can be born again and again around the world over the internet via email. If you are reading this, you are already on the internet and you, therefore, should read this book. Highly recommended.

This book moved me like few books have moved me before! The story of two women whose friendship blossoms by way of the Internet is thought provoking and touching. Susan and Lara couldn't be more different. They, however, have a strong thing in common: Breast Cancer. Having found a lump on one of her breasts, Lara seeks help in an online Breast Cancer forum. That is where she meets BC survivor, Susan. A unique friendship has begun and a wonderful story develops.

The ending is extremely touching without being too sentimental and the e-mail correspondences are poignant and funny at the same time. You can never be too young to read a novel about Breast Cancer and the struggles women and their families go through. I recommend this beautiful novel most highly!

Laney Katz Becker has written a marvelous book!

This epistolary novel is composed of e-mails between two women in different parts of the country who *meet* on an online breast cancer message board.

At the beginning of the novel, Susan, who lives in Ohio, is in remission after being diagnosed with breast cancer three years earlier, while Lara, in a suburb of New York, has just found a lump and is in the process of having a biopsy to determine what it is and what treatment she will have. In a panic, she signs on to a cancer message board and then e-mails Susan with her many questions and fears.

The book traces the correspondence between these two very different women whose common problem allows them to find strength in and through each other. Lara's search for a definitive diagnosis is a revealing look at the frightening and startling scenarios that face women with this disease.

This is an uplifting story of friendship in the face of adversity, offering insight into the turmoil of a cancer diagnosis. The author, a breast cancer survivor herself, has written a book that every woman should read. She includes a good list of breast cancer resources at the end of the book.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about this terrible cancer and read a story of a great friendship and caring.

This morning, this book arrived on my doorstep. The note attached read: This is a one year anniversary gift celebrating your strength and courage. We hope it helps you heal the wounds that are hidden deep inside of you. Love Always! My sister, ever so thoughtful, remembered the day I went to the doctor to show him my pea sized lump.

I put everything down and read the entire book this afternoon. I laughed and cried and understood exactly how these women felt. I will be passing this book onto my friends who have helped me through this long year, as well as my friends who have survived. Thank you for this wonderful tribute to those of us who have been diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

This is one of the most touching books i have read in a long time. While i have not been diagnosed with breast cancer, i have watched others...and the spirit between these two online friends is so inspirational...it is sad, but uplifiting...the story has made me reflect on the value of my friendships with other women...if only we could all have a Susan or a Lara in our lives. The conversations between these two women about their children are terrific, especially about their teenage daughters...i think someone has been eavesdropping at my house! I confess I could not put the book down until the last few pages; i needed courage to finish those last pages. I hope we see more from this author!

When a friend first recommended "Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend" I had doubts that I would finish the book ... a story about breast cancer just sounded "too heavy" when I was looking for a good read that would help me escape the stress of work.

"Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend" was a true delight! A quick reading, warm hearted story about two women brought together because they each had found a lump in their breast (a bad day for anyone). I found it difficult to put this book down until I read the last page. Perhaps best of all, I found that while truly enjoying this wonderful tale, I was being well educated about diagnosing and treating BC!

Will I send this book to a friend? Absolutely not! I want to keep it as a reference guide. It is too good to give up. Instead I purchased copies for my "dearest friends" and have recommended it to all others!

Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend written by Laney Katz Becker is an engaging novel about two women who communicate by e-mail regarding their experiences with breast cancer. The two friends became great support systems for each other providing feedback about breast cancer and their family experiences. It is a fast reading novel. You don't want to put the book down. Laney Katz Becker did experience cancer and her book is very descriptive. This is not just a novel for people with cancer or for someone who knows someone with cancer, it is a book for all.

Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend by Laney Katz Becker was suggested to me shortly after I successfully completed my first Avon 3 Day Walk to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research. As the daughter of a mother who succumbed to breast cancer and an online member for many years, the subject matter of this book is one which intrigued me and unfortunately remember well. Having witnessed the ravages of this disease not only from my mother, but from friends and men and women I walked with both in October of 2000 and May of 2001, and then being part of e mail circles, I found this book to be both memorable, insightful and informative.

It doesn't take long before the reader realizes that the author herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. And so I imagine this book will not only appeal to those who either suffer from this disease or know somebody who does but also those who want to read about what can happen when somebody is diagnosed with breast cancer.

This book begins when Lara, a young suburban wife and mother, discovers a small lump in her breast. At first she ignores it but when she continues to feel it, she makes an appointment with her doctor, only to be told she needs to wait several weeks. She then seeks out an online service for support from other members who have also been down this road. Fearful and unbelieving that this coudl be happening to her and thinking "what if," most of the members reassure her by saying, "It's probably nothing." But one poster, a survivor, writes by e mail with important information which includes finding another doctor with an earleir appointment. And what at first begins as letter writing dedicated to breast cancer slowly grows into the most magnificent friedndhsip. In time these women not only discuss their illness and doctor's visits but become true friends sharing stories about their children, husbands, fears and expectations. Along the way there are laughs and joy, tears and sorrow. And then, it as if the book comes full circle when several years later and on the anniversary of her own discovery, Lara is able to help another woman who suspects she may have breast cancer. And once again the circle of support,friendship and information begins again.

Much of the more technical information which I read is also available through medical books and journals but it is the manner in which Laney Katz Becker chooses to present it to her readers which is so compelling. While you many not enjoy all of this book, which at times is diffciult, it will make further aware of not onyl takign care of yourself but being your own health advocate and certainly empathy for those who suffer from any terminal disease.

I will never forget Laney Katz Becker and wish her the very best of health as I do all those who suffer from any disease. In closing I must add that over 20 years ago I read what was then considered a ground breaking book about one women's fight against breast cancer. The title is First You Cry by Betty Rollin. Be assured that Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend is a book worthy of being placed alongside this book and should be read!

Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend is an adventure into the hearts and minds of two women that could be any of us. Laney Katz Becker has taken the scary subject of breast cancer and put it into the bite-size pieces of information available in email messages. Susan and Lara (rhymes with Sarah)find each other on a breast cancer bulletin board and are drawn together in a common emotional whirlwind. Like any friendship that springs up on the internet, theirs is laced with caution and eventually with love and trust. If you are a woman or have a special woman in your life, this is a book that must be read. It will encourage you and uplift you. You will want to share it with the world.

Lara and Susan meet through a Breast Cancer Survivor message board. This book is made up of their e-mail responses which shares the fear, sadness, laughter, tears, treatment progress and strength that ensues during Lara's battle with cancer. Susan offers her experiences as insight to Lara, and a wonderful friendship blossoms during this difficult time. Even as Lara fights for her future health, she offers support to Susan as she suffers a loss in her family, and deals with an adolescent teen. Overall, this book had excellent details of treatment options, side effects, breast reconstruction, and advice on what to look for in a doctor.

I lost a close co-worker of 5 years to a misdiagnosis of a breast lump. She had the lumpectomy, was told it was benign and during a 6 month leave from work to focus on her health, her body was unknowingly being ravaged by cancer (with no symptoms). When she returned to work, she got sick with a cough, and within 3 months died of cancer in her lungs, spine, liver. If only she only had known to get a second opinion on the lumpectomy(as this book offers as advice), she may have been able to fight, but she lost this battle. I support breast cancer charities in her memory, and I encourage every woman to read this book to be informed of treatment options and how this disease can be conquered with education. This book was a heartwarming read, worthy of 5 stars.