Acorn Press Canada

ISBN 1-894838-14-9 - $19.95 CAD - trade paper - October 2004 - 160 pages - 6" x 9"

THE BROW OF DAWN: One Woman's Journey with Multiple Sclerosis

Non-fiction by Catherine Edward

*** Winner of the PEI Book Award ***

"As you read The Brow of Dawn, you will be charmed by Catherine's wit, engaged by her thoughts, delighted by her insights, uplifted by her spirit, and energized by her strength. This is not a diary of disease; it is a story of how to live your life."

-- Jock Murray, OC, MD, FRCPC, MACP

Catherine Edward first noticed the unusual bodily sensations in November 1990. Running errands on a cold November day, she was struck by the feeling that her left side was burning hot and the right side was icy cold, as if a plumb-line had been dropped from the centre of her forehead. She spent the next year and a half trying to find out what was wrong with her. Finally, in 1992, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Until then, she had been a broadcast journalist for CBC, a writer, and a mother, whose energy and drive were unstoppable. Now she was a woman with MS.

Every autumn since then, she has visited the Dalhousie University MS Research Clinic in Halifax, NS, to meet with her attending neurologist, Dr. Jock Murray. Since a year is a long time to remember how the disease had progressed in the intervening months, to assist her memory she wrote diary-like reports for Dr. Murray. After receiving her spring 1997 notes, he wrote back to her, suggesting that she transform her diaries into a book, for all to read. Writes Catherine about Dr. Murray's challenge, "There wasn"t really any way I could refuse. I have high regard for Jock as my doctor, but also as a writer himself. He would not send me on a wild goose chase! Thus, from the imagination of Jock Murray, who saw something more than scribbles for my file in those notes, came the inspiration for a book."

The result is The Brow of Dawn: One Woman's Journey with MS. It tells the story of an amazing life, and how this unpredictable disease has sent one woman on a different path from where she began. Written with strict clarity of thought, and an ability to meet the issues in an honest, forthright, and engaging style, Catherine Edward writes about the day-to-day truth of the disease, all the while maintaining her courage and sense of humour. The result is a recipe for living one's life: with MS or without.

TELL ME MORE

foreword by Jock Murray