Nearly Departed: Adventures in Loss, Cancer, and Other Inconveniences

(Hardback)

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By the time she was thirty, Gila Pfeffer was the oldest living member of her family, with both of her parents dead from cancer. She underwent genetic testing and after learning that she carried the BRCA1 gene decided to undergo a double mastectomy. It wasn't a choice - she had to stay alive.

This memoir follows Gila's journey to break the cycle of death in her family. After becoming a reluctant expert on how to sit shiva, she transforms into an independent adult, falls in love, and becomes a mother, before her life falls apart yet again.


Her double mastectomy reveals cancer already growing in one breast. After enduring eight rounds of chemo and the removal of her ovaries, she takes her last-ever dip in the mikvah waters as a bald, menopausal thirty-five-year-old mother of four.


Drenched in Gila's dark humor honed over years of repeatedly surviving the worst, Nearly Departed is a story about thriving despite poor odds, balancing life in the secular world while remaining true to her faith, and leaving a better legacy for her children than the one she inherited.

Reviews

Nearly Departed is a tribute to all of us who are trying to live this messy thing called life, and all the surprising beauty you can find within. Few authors can move you to tears with their words--Gila is one of them. Reading this book, I felt like she was my best friend telling me her story, describing the details with joy and faithfulness, and pulling me in and never letting go.--Sarah Cooper, comedian and author of Foolish
Nearly Departed is a book about loss, grief, and mortality that nonetheless sparkles with joy. And it is very, very funny. In fact, the darker it got, the more I laughed, which is how you know it was written by a Jew. I loved it.--Catherine Newman, author of We All Want Impossible Things

Author Bio

Gila Pfeffer is a Jewish American writer and humorist. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, McSweeney's, Today.com, and elsewhere. Gila's monthly "Feel It on the First" campaign reminds women to prioritize their breast health. She splits her time between New York City and London.