Between Me and the River

Between Me and the River – Living Beyond Cancer: A Memoir by Carrie Host is an intimate insight into the thoughts of a woman living with cancer

My Book Review Rating: 6 stars – another life changing book that I urge you to read

When I think that up until a year ago my bookshelves were filled with fiction I still can’t believe how many amazing books I have missed out on reading. Memoirs have just never been on my list of must-read books – but in Between Me and the River I have discovered yet another life-changing book that I am honored to have read.

When this mother of three received the shocking diagnosis that would change her life she felt like she was dropped into a raging river; a river which she refused to drown in as she worked with her doctors in conjunction with natural medicines to try and fight this incurable cancer that had taken over her body.

Carrie Host has poured her heart and soul into this book; sharing with her readers the most intimate details of her fight against carcinoid cancer. From her thoughts and feelings to her interactions with her family and the details of her surgeries Carrie has documented her fight against this life-threatening disease in a journal style memoir.

I’m actually finding it hard to write a review that would do this book justice. It is beautifully written – lyrical at times, it is heart warming and heart wrenching at the same time. And most of all, it is inspiring. In an interview with Carrie she actually describes Between Me and the River “not as a cancer story but as a love story, full of inspiration.”

I personally connected with one thought in particular and that is facing your fear. Carrie describes her fear as a great tiger that she keeps locked in a cage, but one day she knows that she has to face this fear.

“I see him pacing in his too-tight cage. He is not purring but growling dangerously low. The longer I sit and look, the more I am able to see him for what he is. he is the opposite of love… Finally, I watch this hot, angry tiger lie down, panting with exhaustion. It is time to let him go. guarding him has worn me out. I reach down deep and find that without my fear, all I have left is love, the key to his cage. It is with pure love that I look fear in the eye, and simply put, we fit together. there is no me versus him. We are only what i see. I open his cage. He does not devour me, as I once supposed. He does not need anything from me, now that I’ve let him go.”

I urge you to read this beautifully written book as it will change the way you think about your life, and remind you that nothing should ever be taken for granted.