Lump: A Memoir in Ineloquent Reflections

For fans of Between Two Kingdoms and Milk and Honey, a dazzling, unconventional memoir—in essays and verse—of a young woman’s sojourn with breast cancer; a chronicle of the most tragic moments in loss, and a celebration of the most tender moments in life.

Question:
If one breast is triple positive
and the other triple negative,
do they cancel each other out?
Asking for a friend.

In this intimate meditation, Allison Sweet Grant begins at the place she assumed was the end. Barely 40, a mother of three, and just embarking upon her literary career, she started detailing her cancer experience the only way she knew how. In poems and compositions including “The Good Patient: A Play,” “A Note on Common Sense,” “Hot-Girl Summer,” and “1000 Kinds of Clouds,” Grant deftly explores every emotion, from the gripping panic of diagnosis to the bittersweet relief of recovery, and the heartbeats in between.

Unpretentious, gut-wrenchingly honest, and at times devastatingly funny, Lump illuminates the fear, hope, everyday indignities of illness, and unexpected joys of healing with sobering clarity and wisdom. Whether you’re on a similar course, supporting a loved one through theirs, or simply appreciate lyrical musings and poignant prose, this evocative collection is one you will savor and share.