Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Laney Katz Becker (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
E-mail and the Internet are phenomena not fully integrated into the characters' lives in this earnest, appealing debut novel told in the form of epistolary e-mail. After Lara Cohen, a 38-year-old freelance copywriter in Armonk, N.Y., discovers a lump in her left breast, she posts her fears on a breast cancer Web site's bulletin board. A breast cancer survivor named Susan Peterson from Canton, Ohio, responds with the right mixture of sobriety and jocularity, and an e-mail friendship is born. Over the year that the pair correspond, they confront the ravages of cancer and a good many other life events, including Susan's skirmishes with her 13-year-old daughter or Lara's with her youngest child. Some challenges are more weighty, like a shattering car accident in the Peterson clan, while both families courageously continue coping with a frightening disease. The women are candid with each other, poking fun, relaying medical data, admitting weaknesses and prejudices. Their personal minutiae gather into two distinct, believable and sympathetic livesDthanks to Becker's ability to create e-mail that defines each protagonist's personality. Becker knows that the Internet often stands in for doctors' advice, and lengthy e-mails to friends substitute for letters and diary entries. (As Lara notes, "I stopped writing in my journal around the same time I started writing to you... in many ways, all the important ways, you've become my sounding board.") The agonizing route of cancer diagnosis and treatment is so painstakingly documented that it seems the author, a survivor herself, conceived the novel, at least in part, as a primer for other women confronting the diagnosis. This useful and humane function contributes to the book's appeal as an informative, realistic tale of the evolution of a friendship. (Oct.) FYI: October is Breast Awareness Month.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This fictionalized account of the author's experience with breast cancer is presented as a series of e-mails between two women who meet at an online cancer information area. The characters, both wives and mothers, face the difficult challenge of breast cancer. Susan, the veteran, provides comfort and information to Lara, a recently diagnosed patient. Becker successfully captures the fear and horror Lara feels upon the discovery of a lump in her breast and her subsequent efforts to find the right doctor and treatment. The author's real-life experience in this area brings an eerie reality to her information-packed story, which sometimes reads more like a medical self-help book than a novel. It even concludes with a list of resources for breast cancer information. Although the medical information sometimes seems a little heavy-handed, the characters feel real and provide insight into the lot of cancer patients and their relationships with their families. A helpful book for any woman who has ever faced this diagnosis; recommended for public libraries.DKathy Ingels Helmond, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 295 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (September 19, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380978539
• ISBN-13: 978-0380978533
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,702,882 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Friendship Is Born Online, February 20, 2001

By	carol irvin "carol knowlton irvin" (chesterland, OH United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful novel about friendship!, February 12, 2001

By	CoffeeGurl (MA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

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!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring story of friendship, January 27, 2001

By	BeachReader "readerjb" (Delaware) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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.