"What Happened to You?": Writing by Disabled Women (ISBN 1565842804)

Amazon.com Review:
After becoming disabled at age 35, Lois Keith found herself & quotliving in a society which had permission to exclude me from things I had grown to consider my right." She learned writing gave her relief, pleasure, and the key to a new community. The essays, fiction, and poetry she gathered for What Happened to You? share differing experiences of women who are disabled or ill. A dancer who broke her neck performing talks of loathing the sense of being on show in the "lofty heights" of her wheelchair until she learned to dance quite differently. One woman gives voice to the undercurrents of anger, uncertainty, fear, and humiliation that colon cancer visits upon her. A disabled adoptive mother finds black humor seeking someone in similar circumstances through the personal ads only to be matched with an "athletic outdoor woman who enjoys hill-walking, climbing, and water sports." Not all of the writing is polished, but most of it comes from the heart and rings true quite loudly. --Francesca Coltrera

Strong Voices:
If you are a woman with a disability, know a woman with a disability, or care about women with disabilities, this is a must read. Out of all of the anthologies written by women, this is the most accessible. If you are looking for a gift for someone you love, don't pass it up.

universally touching:
I loved this book so much. I thought it was so wonderful that it was inclusive of women from many different cultural backgrounds and with many different disabilities. I was especially appreciative that they included mental illness in this book "Agorophobia:letting go," by Pam Mason, because so many times it is brushed off and blamed on the victim. I would highly recommend this book to any woman who knows what its like to go through lifes ups and downs.