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All the stories died that morning … until we found the one we’d always known. When nine-year-old Rose is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, Natalie must use her imagination to keep her daughter alive. They begin dreaming about and seeing a man in a brown suit who feels hauntingly familiar, a man who has something for them. Through the magic of storytelling, Natalie and Rose are transported to the Atlantic Ocean in 1943, to a lifeboat, where an ancestor survived for fifty days before being rescued. Poignant, beautifully written and tenderly told, How To Be Brave weaves together the contemporary story of a mother battling to save her child’s life with an extraordinary true account of bravery and a fight for survival in the Second World War. A simply unforgettable debut that celebrates the power of words, the redemptive energy of a mother’s love … and what it really means to be brave. |
When I started reading this book, I never ever thought that a
story can touch my heart so deep and bring back so many memories from
the past. It literally brought me to tears many times and reminded me
what was it like to be brave, not so long time ago.
This is a story for a mother, a daughter, a great grandfather, a
horrible disease and an old diary that keeps the memories of a
journey of a lifetime. Natalie is a great mother , she does her best
to raise her daughter Rose while her husband Jake is serving in Army
abroad. Everything seems pretty normal for the nine-years-old Rose,
until one day she suddenly collapses and ends up in hospital. The
diagnose is diabetes type 1, a disease with no cure, a disease that
she has to cope with to the rest of her life. And she is only nine!
So, the fight with the diabetes begins! Blood sugar testings, insulin
shots, special diet, small meals every three hours.... It isn't easy
at all! Rose's father is on the other side of the globe and feels
helpless not being able to be with his family. But when one door is
closed, another one is opened. While waiting in the hospital, Natalie
is visited by a man, a man that looks familiar, a man that only she
and her daughter can see. A man that takes them to a diary of a
sailor who survives an epic journey on the open sea. The diary keeps
the memories of Natalie's grandfather, a sailor who survives so many
days on open sea after his ship was destroyed by the enemy during
WWII. Every single page of the diary helps Rose coping with blood
testing and insulin shots. Every new adventure on open sea helps her
coping with ups and downs of her blood sugar.
Why this story touched my heart? My mother had diabetes, for more
forty years, since her early twenties. I've seen her coping with
insulin shots, blood testings, measuring her meals. Hypos were rare,
but very scary when they occasionally happened. She cooked for all
of us and never let anyone to suffer because of her condition. But
after many years having it, the diabetes affected her legs, her eyes
and her heart. She died of a heart attack in 2011, at the age of 67.
This story brought out on surface many memories of mine, and I
cried many times while reading it. The author writes in a beautiful
and warm style, with many emotions and very vividly describing the
scenes. The two stories, one in the past and one in the present, are
so well connected. Colin's journey is a lesson to both Natalie and
Rose to cope with the disease, like he coped with the sea. It helps
them to survive the hardest moments. Colin is true guardian angel.
Real or not, they need him to tell them that everything is going to
be okay. And he needs them, to tell him that everything is going to
be fine. We all need a guardian angel sometimes, just to be there and
hold our hand, nothing more.
Ms. Beech has written an amazing story. A story of survival, of
struggle, of bravery and hope. But mostly, it is a story of
unconditional love, the best cure for every pain and disease. ' Cause
sometimes the only help you can give is love, and love is the only
thing you need when in pain. Love says that you are not alone, and I
hope that this book won't stand alone on Ms. Beech's bookshelf,
there will be many more from her writing pen in future.
My opinion: 5 / 5.
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Louise Beech has always been haunted by the sea, and regularly
writes travel pieces for the Hull Daily Mail, where she was a
columnist for ten years. Her short fiction has won the Glass Woman
Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the Aesthetica
Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting for the
Bridport Prize twice and being published in a variety of UK
magazines. Louise lives with her husband and children on the
outskirts of Hull – the UK’s 2017 City of Culture – and
loves her job as a Front of House Usher at Hull Truck Theatre,
where her first play was performed in 2012. She is also part of
the Mums’ Army on Lizzie and Carl’s BBC Radio Humberside
Breakfast Show. This is her first book, based on her experience
with her own daughter’s diagnosis and the true story of her
grandfather, Colin. She has beautiful photos to support!
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Buy "How to be Brave" on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk .
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