Undressing the Moon by Tammy Greenwood
This one will touch your heart.  It's a book that will stay with you long after you've read it.  Undressing the Moon is the story of a 30 year old woman with breast cancer who reflects on her difficult past in order to come to terms with her illness and make amends for a past mistake.

Piper's adolescence was marked by the people who left her behind.  At fourteen, Piper adores her mother and covets the time they spend together searching for discarded treasures.  But her mother soon walks away from her family, no longer able to bear her husband's constant watch.  Piper's insecure father, not able to survive on his own, virtually abandons her to live with an abusive woman.  And Piper's dependable older brother is pursued by out-of-state colleges offering full scholarships.  During this tumultuous time, Piper becomes involved with a high school drama teacher who has suffered a great personal loss of his own.  They find comfort in each other until Piper discovers that he too is weak.  For this she is unforgiving, which ultimately leads to a chain of events forcing him to leave his life behind.  Now as an adult, Piper wants to make amends but is not sure how.

Thankfully not everyone in Piper's life abandons her.  Her childhood friend, Becca, reappears in her life when she learns Piper is ill.  Becca is determined to help Piper become well again and will not let her give up.  The devotion and kindness Becca shows to her friend are truly heartwarming and help heal Piper's emotional wounds.  We should all be so lucky to have such an incredible girlfriend!  

Wonderful imagery is found throughout this book.  One of the most significant is broken glass - symbolizing broken people and broken lives.  However, this book also shows us that what is broken and discarded can be pieced together into something beautiful, like a lovely piece of artwork that will always be treasured.

About the Author:  Tammy Greenwood, born in Vermont, now lives in Ocean Beach, California with her husband, Patrick Stewart. She is the author of Breathing Water, winner of the 1999 Sherwood Anderson Foundation Award, and Nearer Than the Sky, a Book Sense 76 selection. 

 Undressing the Moon