With her new book, Linda E. Clarke—artist, health educator, and “a teller of tales for a good long time”—opens a personal window for us to the profound sensory experience of recovering from major brain surgery. Her narrative offers us an intimate portrait of a woman of resilience and sensitivity, of valour and spirit. The chapter titles alone—The Sea at Night, Deep Waters, Calm Water, Harbour—create a compelling odyssey of a child’s drowning in deep ocean to a hero’s surviving to safe haven.

Award-winning author Anne Simpson calls This will Happen to You “a poignant glimpse into what it means to be fully human.”

Linda’s partner James Sullivan complements the narrative with a poignant sequence of black-and-white photographs. As editor Susan Scott affirms, “James Sullivan’s work creates the space we need to enter the story and imagine our own. “

Linda E. Clarke is a writer and professional performance storyteller who has taught at Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine, Columbia Medical School, the University of Toronto, and the Yale School of Medicine

Linda E. Clarke's profile page

James J. Sullivan's profile page

As physicians and surgeons, we rarely have access to the personal experiences of our patients

during their stay in hospital. Our perceptions are informed by the clinical care we provide before,

during and after surgery. This intimate and highly personal narrative from the patient’s

perspective is highly relevant to a holistic approach to surgical care; it engages us beyond the

clinical realm to a broad humanistic approach to surgical care.

Linda has long been interested in the relationship between surgery and the patient’s perspective,

and she has written extensively on her own experiences with brain surgery. She has navigated the

sometimes turbulent waters of diagnosis, surgical procedure, and postoperative care to reach a

personal harbour of recovery. Her narrative enhances the qualities that as surgeons and patients

make us human.

—Ivar Mendez, MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACS, FCAHS

F.H. Wigmore Professor and Surgery Head, University of Saskatchewan