One in two of us will get cancer in our lifetime, yet it so often remains the elephant in the room. In this unprecedented book, talented novelist, Gillian Shirreffs, collects and curates her own emails, WhatsApp messages, tweets, short stories, photographs and other found texts to tell the story of the 800 days in which she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, had 22 infusions of chemotherapy, two surgeries, 15 sessions of radiotherapy, learned to live with the aftermath of treatment, and saw her debut novel, Brodie, published. Elephant is a book that doesn’t realise it is a book, providing a unique insight into a writer’s life disrupted by illness. It offers a gamut of emotions; you will laugh, cry, think. Shirreffs’ technique for surviving the most difficult days was to get through them five minutes at a time; this powerful testament to life, friendship and kindness, is one to be read at your own pace. A coffee table cancer book.

Gillian Sherriffs

Gillian Shirreffs is a Glasgow-based writer who uses fiction and non-fiction to explore the world of illness. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2007. Her creative practice is driven by curiosity, invention, and the desire to illuminate the lived experience of MS. In 2021, she graduated with a Doctor of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing. In her thesis she explored the relationship between object and illness, with specific reference to MS. The creative element of her doctorate was Brodie, her first novel, narrated by an object. The idea for this method of interrogation came during months of bed rest. In August 2021 Gillian was diagnosed with breast cancer.

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