Maw Books

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The Last Beach Bungalow by Jennie Nash is the story of April Newton who has just passed her five year breast cancer free mark.  She celebrates with a Subway turkey sandwich, Lays potato chips and a Diet Coke and oh – a brand new beautiful dream home that her husband is building just for her.  There is just one problem, April is getting cold feet about the house.  She knows it’s something that she’s always wanted, it will be a fresh start for life “after cancer.”  Her husband chalks up her apprenhension to cold feet and says it’s normal but he thinks twice when she discovers that a small beach bungalow is being sold way below market value in a contest.  The owner is looking for someone who will appreciate the life that has been lived within the walls and who can honor it by not tearing it down like all of the neighbors have done to their bungalows.

April tries to act nonchalant about the bungalow, but secretly she goes through the open house, hunts down the owner multiple times, and submits her own story in hopes of winning the buying rights.  To quote the book cover, she’s “convinced that this little house represents what she’s missing in her life – comfort, completeness, survival.”  But at what costs?  Her husband is slipping away and her daughter has sworn that she’ll never live there.  And just when April should be embracing life as a breast cancer survivor, she feels the pressure of mortality more every day.

I enjoyed reading The Last Beach Bungalow, it was a quick read that authentically explores the range of emotions that April goes through as she comes to term with what she thinks she wants as well as the aftermath of breast cancer.

Jennie Nash is also a breast cancer survivor who has authored three non-fiction books including The Victoria’s Secret Catalog Never Stops Coming:  And Other Lessons I Learned from Breast Cancer. Visit Jennie’s website and her blog will be up and running in November.  Jennie will share a guest post here on the Maw Books Blog about how breast cancer has effected her as a writer.  Watch for that coming up next.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is dedicated to increasing awareness of breast cancer issues, especially the importance of early detection.  I encourage you to visit their site to learn more and take charge of yours or a loved one’s health.   Also visit to learn how you can get involved in helping in finding a cure for breast cancer research.  As for myself, earlier this year my family walked in the the Susan G. Korman Race for the Cure.  It was our first year participating and I’d like to do it again.

I’m dedicating this post to Stephanie at the Written Word, one of our own book bloggers who is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer.  Pay her a visit and lift her spirits.

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