Marrow: A Love Story

When a deadly disease strikes, it’s often not clear whether this is harder on the patient or those who surround him/her. This is a point well made in the memoir Marrow: A Love Story by Elizabeth Lesser. Lesser’s sister, Maggie, battled lymphoma cancer, which went into remission only to return after seven years.

Maggie had one chance for survival: a bone marrow transplant from the perfect donor. That perfect donor happened to be her sister, Elizabeth. If successful, Maggie would live on with her sister’s blood literally coursing through her veins. In a sense, the sisters would become one, the team known as Maggie-Liz. But the sisters had not gotten along superbly well in their five plus decades of living, so they realized they would have to overcome the issues that had separated them in the past.

Marrow is a fascinating look at how two people worked extremely hard to find love and forgiveness among the ruins of pain and suffering. Lesser makes clear that what worked for her and Maggie might not work for others. And yet this is an inspiring tale of courage. It’s also a reminder that love conquers all, even when death stands poised to strike.