Nearly Departed: Adventures in Loss, Cancer, and Other Inconveniences
By the time she was thirty, Gila Pfeffer was the oldest living member of her family, having lost both parents to cancer. She underwent genetic testing and, after learning that she carried the BRCA1 gene, decided to have a double mastectomy. That choice saved her life.
This memoir follows her journey to break the cycle of death in her family. After becoming a reluctant expert on how to sit shiva, she grows up, falls in love, and becomes a mother, before her life is derailed yet again.
Her double mastectomy reveals cancer already growing in one breast. After enduring eight rounds of chemo and the removal of her ovaries, she takes her last-ever dip in the mikvah waters as a bald, menopausal, thirty-five-year-old mother of four.
Drenched in Gila's dark humor, honed over years of repeatedly surviving the worst, Nearly Departed is a story about thriving against the odds, leaning in to her Jewish faith, and leaving a better legacy for her children than the one she inherited.
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Bringing humor to tragedy is a tightrope act, but Gila does it beautifully.--Wendi Aarons, author of I'm Wearing Tunics Now
If you want to laugh, cry, and laugh some more while enjoying an intimate glance into the mystical world of Orthodox Judaism, this is the book for you.--Jen Mann, New York Times bestselling author of People I Want to Punch In the Throat and Midlife Bites
Gila Pfeffer's writing is so sharp and funny that you almost don't notice when it starts to break your heart.--Rax King, author of Tacky
Not only does she generously share how she has been able to defy the statistics and outsmart her own genetic destiny of the worst of the worst, she illustrates for us the hows and the whys so we can too.--Jess Buchanan, New York Times bestselling author of Impossible Odds
Part coming-of-age saga, part rallying cry for prevention, Pfeffer shows off her gift for turning tragedy, grief, and loss into something to laugh about.--Emi Nietfeld, author of Acceptance
This is the perfect book for anyone seeking levity in the face of devastation. Gila's life is a master class on perspective and how to handle some of life's darkest moments with fortitude and, most importantly, humor. Gila's writing is honest, heartfelt, and impressive. It takes an incredible spirit to not only stare down death multiple times, but to also write about it with such a clear head and make it funny. Only read this book if you are okay with both crying and laughing out loud in public.--Iliza Shlesinger, award-winning comedian, actor, writer, producer, and author
Nearly Departed is a book about loss, grief, and mortality that nonetheless sparkles with joy. And it is very, very funny. In fact, the darker it got, the more I laughed, which is how you know it was written by a Jew. I loved it.--Catherine Newman, author of We All Want Impossible Things
