Butterfly Of Hope

The Cancer Ladies Running Club by Josie Lloyd is a charming contemporary novel that will swell your heart as you witness the love, care and bravery of the women within the tale.

As the title suggests the book is about a group of women with cancer who begin running together. They do not focus on the destination but the next one step. They support each other on and off the track.

The novel is written through the eyes of Keira, one of the ladies. We share her highs and lows not just of cancer but of her daily life.

Keira is forty seven years old running a family and a business when she receives a cancer diagnosis. Overnight people see her differently. “I’m being labelled again… as a sick person. And that’s not all I am.” Now she is seen as the lady with cancer but she is so much more… She is a wife, mother, daughter, shop owner, brave and beautiful but all of a sudden people have put her in a box labelled ‘cancer.’ The reader can empathise with her feelings and frustrations. “I still hate being treated differently.”

We witness true friendships being formed and we see false friendships. Some build up with love, others tear down in the most despicable fashion.

The Cancer Ladies Running Club is the most charming read. It is not a gloomy read. It is a brave, gutsy read that I thoroughly enjoyed. It is a novel of love, community and support showing the strength of the women to overcome.

I see that reading the afterword, that Josie Lloyd has had cancer too. The story of support is personal to her. Thank you Josie Lloyd for a wonderful, heartfelt read.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON