Speak Gently is Diane Lanquet t's memoir of the year following the death of her mother from breast cancer as she, too, battled breast cancer and recalled the death of her sister from breast cancer nine years prior. They were treated at separate facilities but shared this journey with the love and support of family and friends over the next ten months. The memoir opens in March as she works to regain her strength and plan a garden, sifting through memories of her sister, mother and father; details of her surgery, chemotherapy and radiation; and varied texts (e-mails, cards, medical information, hospice pamphlets) encountered on her journey. Millions of cancer patients and their families want their experiences validated. Speak Gently is both personal and universal -- the book she wanted to read -- the book she'd not seen written.