Mara is a fighter. Beaten up in a bar by two men when she was twenty-two, Mara decided then and there to never be a victim again. Never feel weak and frail at the mercy of anybody or anything. She took up martial arts and forged herself into a strong, confident, successful woman. However, all of this strength and confidence cannot help her when she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Overnight her world is turned upside down. For me this book is all about fear. Multiple sclerosis, besides the fear of the disease itself, brings many fears. The fear of slowly losing your physical and motor controls. The fear of losing your independence. The fear of losing your dignity. Mara must confront these fears while fighting the disease. The author, Nicola Griffith, suffers from multiple sclerosis herself, so there is a real f
eeling of authenticity around Mara’s struggle. The symptoms, the drugs, the side effects of these drugs, the systems that are in place to help and their inadequacies. I loved this part of the book it really worked for me. What didn’t work for me was the sub-story of a killer out there killing people with multiple sclerosis. It just seemed fanciful and out of place with the main narrative. I did enjoy the book. It’s a short, powerful read which gives the reader some insight into what people with multiple sclerosis endure. 3 stars.
This is the first Nicola Griffith novel I have read and I think she is a talented author. She was a self defence instructor before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She has won a number of literary awards including The Washington State Book Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Nebula Award. So Lucky is her eighth novel but she is probably best known for her novel Hild. F�
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