CHASING NORMAL
Balancing the ups and downs
of life and cancer
A Memoir
A unique look into how humour and attitude can help diminish the power of metastatic cancer...or in fact, any of life's challenges.
Chasing Normal allows you to walk alongside a metastatic cancer diagnosis. You experience the everyday ups and downs and emotions that the author has encountered since 2011...but it is not just about cancer.
What do Ikea flat packs, Whistler's Mother, and mysterious comets each have in common with cancer? Well, everything and nothing at all. For Jo Rothwell, they have been the difference between living with cancer and simply living. Lessons learned along the way include resilience, purpose, distraction, adaptability, perspective, and a master class in humour.
Chasing Normal is also a love story. The love a mother has for her son. A story of hope. A story of how your purpose in life can give you the greatest strength and help you walk alongside the greatest challenges. Jo refuses to let cancer define her, and so, to counteract cancer's chaos...she chases normal.'
For International Paperback and Kindle orders:
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RRP. $28
OUR PRICE
$20
read.books.with.jane (instagram)
CHASING NORMAL Balancing the Ups and Downs of Life and Cancer by Jo Rothwell. A friend asked me to read this book and give my feedback as she is a friend of the author and thinks the book “has legs” but wanted an objective view. I must say I didn’t immediately want to read about someone else’s cancer experience but I was curious and would like to assist my friend. In fact the book is very well written, funny in parts, extremely brave and Jo’s positive light shines through. I liked her technique of every second chapter being devoted to Wednesdays with her adored son Harry. As someone with two sons I’m in awe of how she managed to get him out on her adventures. Her descriptions of the temperament of a young man ring so true and add humour to the book. As a fellow sufferer/survivor of an incurable cancer (brain cancer for me) and a mother I have a lot in common with Jo. I know her fears, especially the intense and overwhelming fear of leaving children behind and not sharing their growing lives. I know the stifling trepidation in waiting for scan results and praying that your number’s not up. I also know how to live a positive life and not give any oxygen or airtime to cancer. I loved the illustrations for every chapter by Jo’s ex-husband. As Jo says the only way we can get better is if they find a cure for cancer, hence I have devoted large parts of the last 9 years fundraising for brain cancer and have raised over $600,000. As Jo would appreciate this is largely due to the loving support of family and friends who are there alongside you all of the way. Bravo Jo. 10/10.
Chasing Normal -
Balancing the ups and downs of life and cancer.
A moving and thought-provoking read! ‘Chasing Normal’ is not just a chronicle of cancer treatment and the ups and downs of coping with a life-altering event, it’s so much more than that. It’s an affirmation of life in all its splendour, and a reminder to appreciate all the aspects of the world we live in, to find humour in everyday existence, and above all to value what we have. Life is precious, the human mind is strong, and there is always an advantage in concentrating on the good things over the bad. Not only that, it’s a great tour of Melbourne and its surrounds – it makes me want to get out there and explore it too! Thank you, Jo for sharing your unique perspective on life. Wednesdays with Harry were a highlight, full of love, humour and warmth. ‘Chasing Normal’ is a book I’ll dip into again and again when I need a dose of positivity!
Caroline and Philip. Carp Productions