Foiled Creative Fire

The origin of this book came about fairly soon after the author's own experience of breast cancer, when she heard similar stories told by others in her support group, of traumatic life events followed by depression, followed by cancer. She began to explore the lives of women in history who experienced breast cancer, and found a similar pattern, from Anne of Austria (1601-1666) to Audre Lorde (1934-1992).

It tells the stories of women through the ages who experienced breast cancer, at times when modern medicine was not available to help: in spite of this, several of the women recovered well and went on to live productive lives. The novelist Fanny Burney was one of these, whose mastectomy was performed by Napoleon's best surgeon; the Bloomsbury artist Vanessa Bell was another. In these two cases their creative fire was not foiled: they both went on to do more admirable work.

Another theme of the book is feminism: often these women were greatly talented, but they had to fight even to be able to work at their chosen occupation. Medical research on the subject of depression and anxiety followed by cancer has now caught up: it is established that there is a link. This book will be of interest to members of the general public who have experienced cancer, together with their doctors and nurses, and academics working in the field of cancer and the mind. It is unique in its approach to the subject.