She had us at the title, but Gail Konop Baker’s memoir about her year-long struggle with breast cancer is a must-read for all women, even those blessed not to have had their lives touched with the disease.

Gail writes honestly about her anger, fear, confusion – not just about the cancer but about the issues involving her marriage, her children and her career which the cancer forces her to face – and gains a new, clearer perspective on what she really wants for the rest of her life.

Having planned to just deal with the usual suspects of a mid-life crisis, Gail writes, “I want to feel bad about my neck. I do. But I feel bad I may not ever get to feel bad about my neck.”

Thankfully she does, and her approach to both the cancer and her life may give you the impetus to make a few changes yourself.

Gail wanted to be “the Audrey Hepburn of cancer,” but we think she’s actually someone way better: she’s the friend you totally relate to and care about who lets you learn from her own experience.