The Girlfriend’s Guide meets What to Expect When You’re Expecting for breast cancer patients in an outstanding book that is at once beautiful and helpful, realistic, and uplifting.

When she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age thirty-nine, Hollye Jacobs—a palliative care nurse with graduate degrees in social work, bioethics, and child development—started a blog to keep family and friends informed of her treatment. It soon evolved into a daily must-read for thousands of women worldwide. Now, in a graceful, exquisitely illustrated work with full-color photographs by award-winning photographer Elizabeth Messina, Jacobs offers an informative, therapeutic guide for people who have been diagnosed with the disease.

The Silver Lining is part memoir, part guidebook that combines the author’s professional knowledge with her firsthand personal experience. “This is the book that I wished I’d had after my breast cancer diagnosis. What I needed was a lifeline, a point of reference, a source of encouragement that was simultaneously honest and informative.”

With its balance of substance and beauty, The Silver Lining artfully provides the chance to witness the breast cancer experience from both sides of the bed, from the perspective of an experienced nurse and that of a close friend. Hollye addresses the physical and emotional aspects and what patients can expect, from coping with a diagnosis, to surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and recovery, to nutrition and complementary therapies, as well as how to talk with children about illness.

While the book is brimming with action steps and lifelines to help people negotiate each phase of treatment and recovery, every chapter includes a “Silver Lining”—the source of inspiration and perspective that buoyed Jacobs through her own journey.

Offering a wealth of invaluable insight in a gorgeous design that you will want to keep on your nightstand, The Silver Lining is a companion that every cancer patient will treasure.