Being Brett: Chronicle of a Daughter's Death

In this painfully honest account, Hobbie (Boomfell) details his daughter Brett's five-year battle with Hodgkin's disease. Brett, a talented 23-year-old artist, had just begun an independent life in San Francisco when she was diagnosed with lymphoma. Although the initial treatment appeared to be effective, the disease recurred and Brett continued chemotherapy and radiation, also undergoing a devastating bone marrow transplant. Hobbie paints a vivid picture of his energetic, loving daughter and their relationship, as well as the emotional impact of her condition on his wife, his other daughter and son and on Brett's incredibly supportive lover, Beth. When Brett's condition became hopeless, she returned with Beth to Massachusetts to be near her family. Hobbie's harrowing account of Brett's last days is a shattering portrait of how a family struggles through the loss of one of its beloved members. (Jan.)