Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy by Geralyn Lucas

". . . poignant, and often laugh-out-loud prose."

". . . the young woman's perspective on what's often considered an older woman's disease."

Much like the cover, Lucas''s book demands more than a first-glance perusal. She documents, in vivid, no-holds barred detail, the horrors of discovering she had breast cancer at age 27, and her determination to battle the disease with intelligence and style.

Infused with pathos and humor, the tale is written with a journalist''s attention to specifics (Lucas was an editorial producer at ABC News'' 20/20 and director of programming at Lifetime). What makes the memoir unusual is the young woman''s perspective on what''s often considered an older woman''s disease, right down to the blood-red lipstick she wears to her surgery.

Faced with the decision whether to remove a breast to save her life or not, the author reveals her intimate moments of conflict, and points the camera''s eye outward at the doctors, family, and friends who react to her cancer with a variety of responses.

In poignant, and often laugh-out-loud prose, Lucas''s memoir explains why she makes the choices she does, what those decisions cost, and who helped her along the way.

Reviewer: M. K. Daniels