by Pia de Jong
Reviewed by Linda:
Some people love adventure tales by mountaineers who scale the world’s highest peaks, but I savor memoirs by parents who overcome or persevere through great difficulties in the lives of their children. This volume is one of the most beautifully written of this type. The author’s third child, Charlotte, was born with a mysterious blue spot on her skin which soon multiplied over her body. The diagnosis: a deadly form of leukemia. This mother’s tale of the first year of Charlotte’s life brings us into the family’s world on a canal house in the old quarter of Amsterdam. Supported by an eccentric array of neighbors and a beloved doctor, the author supported her child in every way she could.