Ruth Picardie, happily married with one-year-old twins, was only 32 when diagnosed as having breast cancer. In a series of extraordinarily brave and outspoken articles in the Observer, she wrote openly about her experiences, of the disease, of the treatment, of confronting death, of losing her family and her life. When she died in 1997 she was mourned by thousands of people who had never met her. Included are...
Ruth Picardie's articles, additions by her sister Justine, selected letters and e-mails from friends and readers and her husband Matt's account of her last days.