With A Little More Help From My Friends

The story told by Elizabeth Fleming in her first book is one of inspiration, allowing the reader to watch on as a doctor sent to declare her dead shortly after her birth noticed a tiny flicker of life. From that point we were able to follow an account of her developing and flourishing against all the odds. It tells of the overcoming of many of the obstacles placed in her way by her Cerebral Palsy and of the crucial role her family and friends played in her this tale. As a title for that first book, I toyed with the idea of using 'Walking With Lazarus'. It seemed apt. In this, her second book, you'll find that the trials and tribulations of Elizabeth's life were only hinted at in her debut. It tells of the struggle of a human being to cope with some of the natural disasters of life. As we watch Elizabeth cope with the tragedy of cancer in her family, we get a real sense of her emotional pain. She's removed from her life, first of all by medication and then because of the effects the medication had on her. Two-and-a-half years of her adulthood were spent inside the confines of a psychiatric hospital as she came to terms with waves of trauma we can only imagine. The story reminded me of Ken Casey's classic tale and I was tempted to use the title 'Another One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'; when I read on about the role of therapists, medical staff and those close to her and watched her emerge from her cocoon once more, there was only one title I could use: With A Little More Help From My Friends. The sequel takes the first story and simply raises the stakes. If you were inspired by Elizabeth's faith and tenacity in that book, I can assure you that you ain't seen nothing yet