Between Two Kingdoms

A Memoir of a Life Interrupted

De: Suleika Jaouad

Narrado por: Suleika Jaouad

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A deeply moving memoir of illness and recovery that traces one young woman’s journey from diagnosis to remission to re-entry into “normal” life—from the founder of The Isolation Journals and a subject of the Netflix documentary American Symphony

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, The Rumpus, She Reads, Library Journal, Booklist

“I was immersed for the whole ride and would follow Jaouad anywhere. . . . Her writing restores the moon, lights the way as we learn to endure the unknown.”—Chanel Miller, The New York Times Book Review

“Beautifully crafted . . . affecting . . . a transformative read . . . Jaouad’s insights about the self, connectedness, uncertainty and time speak to all of us.”—The Washington Post

In the summer after graduating from college, Suleika Jaouad was preparing, as they say in commencement speeches, to enter “the real world.” She had fallen in love and moved to Paris to pursue her dream of becoming a war correspondent. The real world she found, however, would take her into a very different kind of conflict zone.

It started with an itch—first on her feet, then up her legs, like a thousand invisible mosquito bites. Next came the exhaustion, and the six-hour naps that only deepened her fatigue. Then a trip to the doctor and, a few weeks shy of her twenty-third birthday, a diagnosis: leukemia, with a 35 percent chance of survival. Just like that, the life she had imagined for herself had gone up in flames. By the time Jaouad flew home to New York, she had lost her job, her apartment, and her independence. She would spend much of the next four years in a hospital bed, fighting for her life and chronicling the saga in a column for The New York Times.

When Jaouad finally walked out of the cancer ward—after countless rounds of chemo, a clinical trial, and a bone marrow transplant—she was, according to the doctors, cured. But as she would soon learn, a cure is not where the work of healing ends; it’s where it begins. She had spent the past 1,500 days in desperate pursuit of one goal—to survive. And now that she’d done so, she realized that she had no idea how to live.

How would she reenter the world and live again? How could she reclaim what had been lost? Jaouad embarked—with her new best friend, Oscar, a scruffy terrier mutt—on a 100-day, 15,000-mile road trip across the country. She set out to meet some of the strangers who had written to her during her years in the hospital: a teenage girl in Florida also recovering from cancer; a teacher in California grieving the death of her son; a death-row inmate in Texas who’d spent his own years confined to a room. What she learned on this trip is that the divide between sick and well is porous, that the vast majority of us will travel back and forth between these realms throughout our lives. Between Two Kingdoms is a profound chronicle of survivorship and a fierce, tender, and inspiring exploration of what it means to begin again.

Moving, honest and sharp

I enjoyed this book immensely. The author is clearly a very smart, sensitive young woman and a talented storyteller. Her tragedy becomes a gift to us all and a lesson about humanity in her telling.

I am somewhat older with a less life threatening but chronic condition and went through many of the emotions and discoveries she has in my twenties with less “at stake”. I was luckier but may not be going forward. “In-between-ness” is a permanent condition we all share. Her clarity and honesty about it made me sad and hopeful at once. Thank you, Suleika.

Life changing

SuSu’s journey is tragic, but the way she wanders through each phase of her illness and treatment into a state of health is profound. The lessons she learned by herself and from those who shared in the journey can be applied to many life challenges. Thank you for sharing.

Beautiful, raw story

Few people manage to describe what it felt like, what it tasted like, what the thought process was as skillfully and vulnerable as Suleika.
I thoroughly enjoyed her story, cried a few times and some of the phrases/ mantras she received on her journey i wrote down and still think about them.
Wishing you much health, Susu, and congrats to you and Jon on your marriage! May it be a long and happy one!

Unexpected but Good

I thought this would be a story more about living on the road, but it is more cancer journey focused than I expected. That being said, it’s a wonderful read that makes you think and appreciate life.

My thoughts exactly

What a wonderful book! She said everything I, as a breast cancer survivor, feel/think but haven’t managed to put into words. I’m extremely thankful to my cousin who suggested the book. If you’re a cancer survivor, it’s a must read…warning: it may trigger you. If you’ve been a care giver for a cancer patient, it’s a must read!