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Between Two Kingdoms: A memoir of life interrupted (2021) by Suleika Jaouad

When I first picked up Between Two Kingdoms (2021) I was interested in reading about the author's post-cancer, road trip journey. I wanted to know what transversing the United States of America was like when a person plotted their journey based on the relationships they built while working through a life-threatening disease over a handful of years.

Meaning, when I found myself two-thirds of the way through my reading and the author had yet to find their way to the other side of their cancer treatments, still dramatically far from their road trip, I initially found myself disappointed that I had invested so much time into reading their story without the return I had hoped.

However, once I finished Between Two Kingdoms I found myself feeling something different.

What I came to appreciate about this read, albeit one of someone sharing their troubling journey, was the character developed by the author over the course of their journey. Additionally, being shown an insight into the relationships that they built throughout their journey— some which fell apart as they struggled through their challenges, also offered some enjoyment, in a perverse sort of way.

Often when reading works similar to this one, the author— who also happens to be the protagonist, may not see their own blind spots or short comings and presents themselves as someone who can do no wrong. While at times Jaouad makes it seem that they might be following this trend established by many authors before them, they ultimately come to the realization that they are imperfect, have faulted through their struggles, and that in some cases were clearly in the wrong when they attested they were not. It is this character development that comes as a result of the relationships the author establishes, nurtures, and in some cases loses which offers a authentic and human look into the struggle and triumph they faced.

While the journey post-cancer was only briefly documented, in the end I came to appreciate why this was the case. As the majority of the book focused on some heavy themes— the mortality of human life, the value and reality of time, and how a person can never truly know themselves without interactions with others; the development of these themes takes time, and in the cause of the Jaouad and the story they had to tell, this development could only unfold by becoming ill and striving toward health.