Arts & Entertainment

Breast Cancer Never Stops Author From Finishing Novel

Leslie Lehr, Pacific Palisades resident, explores the bonds of motherhood in an L.A. based thriller "What A Mother Knows."

Leslie Lehr has put her blood, sweat and tears into her latest novel What A Mother Knows.

Literally.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer last year during the final edits of her book. The side effects of her chemotherapy not only made her lose her hair, but her eyes constantly teared up. Her fingernails, or what was left of them, were so blackened and bruised that when she typed on her keyboard, blood got everywhere.

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”I kept thinking, what if this is the last book I ever write?” said Lehr, a Pacific Palisades resident. “Getting this book out was a great goal. It helped me recover. If I died it would be okay because this book was the one.”

What A Mother Knows is the book she said she’s always wanted to write. The thriller that’s described as a page turner, takes place all over Los Angeles. It opens with a fatal car crash in Topanga Canyon. The main character, Michelle Mason, can’t remember anything that happened during the accident. Mason combs all of L.A. in search of her, the only person who may have the answer of what happened that day.

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“I spent years on this book and I have people tell me they finished it in two days,” said Lehr, laughing. “The underlying themes are very important to me. It’s everything that I’d want to say about unconditional love and the relationships between mothers and children.”

Lehr has lived and worked in Pacific Palisades for the last three years with her husband. It’s been an ideal place for her recovery and for her writing. Any writer’s block is alleviated with a walk on the beach or on a hiking trail. The small town feel with everything so conveniently near by was crucial when she was recovering, she said. Now that she is better, she does yoga regularly, shops at the Farmers Market and satisfies her froyo obsession at either Toppings or The Yogurt Shoppe.

Lehr says she feels 90 percent back to her normal self. Her hair is growing back in and she no longer wears gloves to cover up her bruised fingers. Still, she has to pace herself and prioritize her book readings and other appearances because she doesn’t have enough energy to do everything she wants to do. She continues to get treatments every three weeks.

What A Mother Knows is available wherever books are sold. Check out her website to enter to win a free copy of the novel or to set up a Skype chat with her for a book club.  


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