February Light: A Love Letter to the Seasons During a Year of Cancer and Recovery

In reflections spanning the 12 months following her diagnosis of ovarian cancer, freelance writer Remoff shares with readers her country life in a winterized cottage in Osprey Lakes, Pa., replete with natural wonders, domestic and wild animals, a loving family and quirky small-town folk. She also describes every step of her harrowing experience with cancer in a world of frightening tests and sickening drugs. Moving beyond a simple story of disease and recovery, Remoff illuminates the deepest and often most paradoxical realities of her self and her loved ones. Remembering herself as a stubborn and willful child, she now sees herself not as a difficult patient but as a formidable opponent of the disease that wants to take her life. Recalling her own, her mother's and her grandmother's struggles with depression, she is ""startled"" to realize that in ""this cancer year... depression has lost its hold on me."" Drinking herbal teas, arguing with her doctors or giving in to unwelcome fatigue and tears, Remoff conveys her experiences with admirable honesty. She explains how, in February, after months of chemotherapy and its attendant cruelties, a corner is turned as she is visited by the light of both nature and spirit, signaling the end of her ordeal. By March, her ""life is coming back as surely as the migratory birds."" (Sept.)