2 out of 4 stars
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Bev Arnold’s A Patchwork of Pink is a memoir about the time when her world was brought crashing down after being told that the two lumps in her left breast were malignant – she had only just realised her childhood dream of releasing her debut album at the age of sixty-nine just months ago. Arnold tells the story of her battle with breast cancer from diagnosis to treatment, and finally, to being in remission.
Arnold understandably falls into despair after that earth-shattering diagnosis, as her life had to be put on hold for the numerous doctors’ appointments and the seemingly never-ending rounds of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, as well as treatments for the resultant side effects. Even country music, which used to be such a joy for her, failed to pull her out of the dark pit she had fallen into. Eventually, it is Arnold’s boundless love and concern for the local Australian wildlife (who look upon her as one of their own due to her frequent provision of food and medical care pre-diagnosis) which kick-starts her emotional healing. I could certainly see her passion for them in the numerous anecdotes peppered throughout the novel, as she even gave names to the animals who visit her regularly.
In A Patchwork of Pink, Arnold is extremely detailed about even the smallest and most technical aspects of her condition, even taking the time to explain her thought process when making decisions about various treatments. This is an excellent reference for people who want to learn more about breast cancer, as well as for sufferers who would like to know more about the treatment process. However, this acts as a double-edged sword, as the medical jargon used would turn off casual readers. It would have been much better if a glossary was included at the back for easier reference.
Unfortunately, this also made the parts of the novel about her battle with breast cancer read somewhat like a medical case study, albeit one in the first-person narrative. For a book which has been marketed as her journey towards psychological wellbeing via her unabating love for and interaction with the local wildlife, I would have liked to have seen more of Arnold’s thoughts and emotions. Also, there is a lack of signposting in Arnold’s writing – she has a tendency to jump from anecdote to anecdote – making the story slightly confusing. I had to stop and double back multiple times when reading, which prevented me from immersing myself fully into her narrative.
Nonetheless, what I liked was Arnold’s ability to draw rich and vivid images in your mind with her writing. Despite the generous use of medical terminology, her descriptive ability amazes – I could easily picture the house she lives in, I could feel the fatigue she feels after chemotherapy, along with the joy she experiences when interacting with her wildlife visitors. However, this was done almost to the point of verbosity, which detracted slightly from the overall reading experience.
All in all, whilst I liked reading A Patchwork of Pink, I am rating it 2 out of 4 stars. I would give it 2.5 stars if I could but am unfortunately forced to round it down, as there were many grammatical and punctuation errors which should have been caught easily during proofreading. I would still recommend this book to readers who are looking for an honest and sincere story about a woman’s struggle to overcome one of the harshest periods in her life, but please be warned: it is definitely not for you if you are looking for a deeply immersive read!
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A Patchwork of Pink
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