Reflections on the C-Word: At the Centre of the Cancer Labyrinth

Written over a year in which the Canadian author underwent surgery and radiation for breast cancer, this memoir speaks of how the ordeal deepened her appreciation for friends, family and the fragile planet. Having first observed a labyrinth at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Matthews found that walking the labyrinth in her period of crisis and change helped her find courage and calm. She came to realize that the goal was not simply to arrive at the centre of the labyrinth but to reach the centre of herself. Not a self-help or how-to book, as Goody Niosi notes, this "reads like a good novel with a brave protagonist fighting a battle with evil forces. You want to turn the page. You want to know, 'What happens next?'"