“The Bright Side Running Club” - Josie Lloyd

 👟This novel made a cross-country flight feel like a blip in time; I couldn’t put it down the entire time. Lloyd’s plot pacing was utterly perfect.

👟Aspects of Lloyd’s own battle with cancer, its effects on herself, on her partner, her children, her friends - are all poignantly reflected in TBSRC. The level of authenticity in Lloyd’s writings about the pre-cancer diagnosis/post-diagnosis worlds, comes through clearly. In addition to her life-altering diagnosis, Keira is also dealing with an angsty teen in the throes of her “you don’t understand me” phase, a small business owner crisis, and myriad other problems, all of which pale next to Cancer.

👟 It was eye-opening to read where newly diagnosed, Keira wants nothing more than to avoid all of the overflowing concern, sympathy, and love that surrounds her as it feels suffocating. Worse, it confirms her unwilling membership in the “Cancer Club”. To add to the topsy-turviness, she naturally also feels intense guilt about those feelings.

👟 While she appreciates the support system she has among family and friends, it is when she falls in with a motley crew of cancer fighters and thrivers, that Keira finally feels fully understood in every aspect of her new journey. I loved reading about each of the women in the group.

👟When Keira contemplates her future, and that ephemeral “return to normal,” she comes to realize that cancer has obliterated her old self (yet another thing cancer has taken from her). TBSRC is not cloying and does not skirt around realism either. For all the heartbreak, and while you may not ever return to your pre-cancer normal, there is hope. The hope for a new normal.