Another Alice: An inspiring true story of a young woman's battle to overcome rheumatoid arthritis (PAPERBACK)
UK £7.99,Canada $16.00,
UK Publication January 2005
ISBN 9781848310414
Paperback
Buy: | Waterstones| Book Depository
Love, lust, boys and shopping - the main worries of a teenage girl? Not for eighteen year-old Alice Peterson, who, at the height of her youth and an extremely promising tennis career, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
In the midst of shock and denial, and the enduring question, 'Isn¹t it old people who get arthritis?' Alice had to learn to live with what quickly turned from the odd ache and pain, to a very aggressive form of the illness, and rediscover a new path in life.
Another Alice is at times utterly heart-breaking, and at others laugh-out-loud. Here is her story of how, armed with humour and courage, she left behind a world she loved to overcome the pain of a degenerative disease.
Told with wit, charm and frankness, Another Alice is also a story of friendship, family, growing up and the desire to be 'normal'. But above all, it celebrates the power of the human spirit.
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I first heard Alice's extraordinary story when she was interviewed on Radio 4's Midweek.'Grannies get rheumatoid arthritis, not teenagers, don't they?' she said to me with a disarmingly impish, knowing smile. She had been due to take up an American tennis scholarship when she began to suffer increasingly unbearable pain in her joints. Instead she was accepted to study at Bristol University. What followed is told in her engrossing book, A Will to Win. It's a compulsive read and as honest and engaging as Alice herself.' Nonesuch Magazine
'Peterson's book chronicles not only her physical decline, but also the overwhelming psychological tsunami faced by someone with a degenerative disease.' The Times
'This true story of determination and courage cannot fail to move readers.' OK Magazine
'By writing such a funny, raw and heartbreaking account of your illness not only have you succeeded in putting two fingers up to that seemingly undefeatable enemy, R.A., but you have also given hope and inspiration to everyone out there suffering and in pain. Alice, I salute you.' Bella Pollen, best-selling author of Hunting Unicorns
'Alice Peterson's startling account of her attempts to come to terms with a degenerative disease is both inspiring and accomplished. This frank account will dispel a lot of the stereotypes associated with R.A. and gives testament to the strength and love of a family that was unwilling to be defeated. At times funny and forthright this astonishing account by a local woman will be a source of inspiration to all those who read it.' Winchester & Bishops Waltham Observer
'An engrossing book…deeply affecting…What makes Alice's book so different – and readable – is the way she intimately describes the daily effect of such a horrible disease on a normal, previously healthy young girl. The experiences in hospital, the host of different drugs and the way they changed her body, her desperate attempts to continue a normal life and not to get left behind by her contemporaries, and how the disease's unpredictability made relationships with boyfriends and college flatmates so difficult; are all unflinchingly chronicled.' Arthritis Today
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Alice Peterson is the author of the novels, Look The World In The Eye (Black Swan, 2005) and You, Me and Him (Black Swan, 2007), which Red called 'a witty and moving account of sibling rivalry'. She now works closely with the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) to raise awareness of the condition, and to highlight particularly how it affects the lives of young sufferers.
See more books by: Alice Peterson
