Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Looking for lessons in sibling harmony? One need look no further than Lesser's fine and moving memoir. Cofounder of the Omega Institute and author of the best-selling Broken Open (2004), Lesser was caught in a loop of preprogrammed relationship roles with her three sisters, and she had given scant thought to challenging the die cast in their early family life. This one was the smart one, this one the impetuous one, this one the baby of the family, and so forth, and this was the accepted standard by which all behaved. Not for lack of imagination but for lacking the need to change until Maggie is diagnosed with cancer and needs a bone marrow transplant. Lesser is a perfect match. This is when we learn what Thoreau really meant when he said he wanted to suck out all the marrow of life. Marrow holds the very essence of life, and a transplant cannot be taken too seriously. What the two sisters endured illuminates what should be at the core of our linkage to family. Lesser presents a road map that follows their soul-searching and spiritual stamina and gives new meaning to the phrase, no greater love.--Chavez, Donna Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this profound and ultimately uplifting memoir, Omega Institute cofounder Lesser (Broken Open) shares the experience of becoming her younger sister's bone-marrow donor after the sister's recurrence of stage-IV mantle-cell lymphoma. The procedure is Maggie's only hope of survival, though it comes with risks. Early into the search for a donor, Lesser, one of four sisters, turns out to be a "perfect match." Lesser takes readers through the sisters' childhood in Long Island. The four girls are the offspring of "zealously unreligious" parents (a Jewish ad salesman and an English teacher raised by Christian Scientists). Lesser has always been "a spiritual seeker," and Maggie, a nurse practitioner, is the more pragmatic sib. Whatever their differences growing up, the bone-marrow transplant brings them closer together; they even visit a therapist to confront any past misunderstandings and emotionally prepare for the procedure. Along with a memoir of family love, fortitude, and healing, Lesser offers advice on living a soul-centered life, on how to talk to cancer patients, on how to live with authenticity, and on many other topics. She also provides a fascinating explanation of the bone-marrow-transplant process. Though the subject is somber, Lesser's outlook is hopeful and sometimes humorous; she describes the four sisters dancing in the treatment room, sharing reminiscences of their parents, finding moments to be lighthearted. Readers will be inspired by Lesser's wise and loving approach to both life and death. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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