Book Review: THE DEPARTMENT OF LOST AND FOUND by Allison Winn Scotch
Cancer sucks. No matter what the form--colon, lung, prostate--it is a definite buzz kill in any conversation. And completely a downer when "it happens" to someone you love. Which is exactly what happened to Allison Winn Scotch, the author of THE DEPARTMENT OF LOST AND FOUND.
Although the book is far from autobiographical or memoir, it is in honor of a close friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer. And the book itself? Completely compassionate, honest, raw--and well, a real look at what it would be like to be young and diagnosed with the big C.
The book follows Natalie Miller from the day her very normal (if not hectic) life as a top political aide for a New York senator and girlfriend of a gorgeous boyfriend gets turned around. The boyfriend dumps her, the doctor finds cancer, the job she'd given her life too suddenly takes a turn for the worse, and she finds herself addicted to the Price is Right on her couch in her darkened apartment.
But don't think this book is a downer. Far from it. Natalie is a fighter. And one determined to figure out where it all went wrong. She fights back from the stares at work when she does venture in to help the "good" senator out and back into her past when she looks at her last 5 boyfriends. For old times sake. And sanity sake. Natalie's personality alone makes this book. She's headstrong. Vivacious. And plain determined to beat the cancer right out of her. Even if she is in a bit of a depression (I mean, who wouldn't be).
We get a dose of the real Natalie by way of her diary at the beginning of each chapter. And those entries and full of honesty, fear, and courage. Outwardly she puts on a face--but the truth behind that face is a wonderfully afraid person doing the best they can.
The book is full of jovial fun, as well as every day nonsense that keeps you laughing, even in the face of cancer. And having Natalie go down the path of past loves of her life? Well, makes you love her even more. Don't be afraid of the heavy subject matter here, Allison does a wonderful thing as an author, you laugh through a bit of tears, but come out the other end smiling. Beautifully written and a wonderful tribute to a friend.
Here's the official blurb for the book from Allison's web site:
It didn’t start out as the worst day of Natalie Miller’s life. At thirty, she is moving up the political ladder, driven by raw ambition and ruthless determination. As the top aide to New York’s powerful female senator, she works hard, stays late, and enjoys every bit of it, even if the bills she’s pushing through do little to improve the lives of the senator’s constituents. And if her boyfriend isn’t the sexiest guy alive, at least he’s a warm body to come home to.
Then he announces he’s leaving. But that news is barely a blip compared to what Natalie’s doctor tells her: She has breast cancer. And she can’t cure it by merely being headstrong. Now the life Natalie must change is her own.
All her energy, what little of it she has left, must go into saving herself from a merciless disease. So when she’s not lying on the sofa recovering from her treatments and indulging in a curious addiction to The Price Is Right, she realizes it’s time to take a hard look at her choices. She begins by tracking down the five loves-of-her-life to assess what went wrong. Along the way, she questions her relationships with her friends, her parents, her colleagues, the one who got away, and, most important, with herself: Why is she so busy moving through life that she never stops to embrace it?
As Natalie sleuths out the answers to these questions, her journey of self-discovery takes her down new paths and to unexplored places. And she learns that sometimes when life is at its most unexpected, it’s not what you lose that makes you who you are . . . it’s what you find.
And don't forget to check out this online fun:
- Allison Winn Scotch's Official Website
- Allison's Blog (lots of info for freelance and novel writers there!)
- An Interview with Allison
- Writers Unboxed Allison shares the limelight with a handful of other authors on this blog)
- Buy the book from Amazon
