The Sensitive One
At age fifty, Susan Morris is diagnosed with breast cancer—and she’s floored. Desperate to pinpoint the cause, one night she types a question into her search engine: “What are the risk factors of getting breast cancer?” She’s surprised to discover research showing that long-term exposure to stress and traumatic childhood experiences can both increase the risk of breast cancer.
The Sensitive One is a braided memoir that alternates between Morris’s childhood—as a sensitive child and then teenager who shouldered the burden of caring for her younger siblings as her dad’s alcoholism tore at the threads of their home life—and an adult who for a decade-plus has been living a trauma-free life with a caring husband and rewarding career in nursing . . . only to be diagnosed with breast cancer.
This is a story of redemption—of a woman who escapes harrowing circumstances and start anew—but it’s also a story of how our legacy lives within us, and how healing from the adverse effects of childhood can truly take a lifetime.
Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Apple Books - Indiebound - Google Play - Kobo - Goodreads - Powell's
"Susan Morris has written an exquisite memoir, The Sensitive One, that will open you to the possibilities of a reclaimed life. She rose through the trauma of abuse with inspiring resilience, both as a child and adult, to discover love and peace in her life. It is a journey you will be enriched to take with her. This is a book that will bring you tears, but good tears, as Morris shows you her path through self-awareness to compassion and forgiveness."
Judy L. Mandel
New York Times Bestselling
author of Replacement Child
"Cancer survivors will find solace in this work, which is sometimes difficult to bear."
​
Read the Kirkus Review by clicking here.
ENDORSEMENTS
Susan Morris has written an exquisite memoir, The Sensitive One, that will open you to the possibilities of a reclaimed life. She rose through the trauma of abuse with inspiring resilience, both as a child and adult, to discover love and peace in her life. It is a journey you will be enriched to take with her. This is a book that will bring you tears, but good tears, as Morris shows you her path through self-awareness to compassion and forgiveness.
​
Judy L. Mandel
New York Times Bestselling author of Replacement Child
Susan Morris weaves together a compelling memoir taking the reader through the darkness of childhood abuse and its effects on a family, an individual life, and a body. As a Somatic Psychotherapist specializing in trauma, her story is an act of compassion reflecting her life’s journey in attempts to understand, heal and transform.
​
Ann Saffi Biasetti, PhD; LCSWR; C-IAYT
Author of Befriending Your Body: A Self-Compassionate Approach To Freeing Yourself From Disordered Eating
Susan Morris's courageous story The Sensitive One will inspire you to learn how healing is possible despite a lifetime of traumas, physical and emotional. Susan shows that love, joy in life, therapy, and a gritty determination to overcome it all are a powerful combination to change darkness to light and live a richer life.
​
Linda Joy Myers
President, National Association of Memoir Writers, author of Song of the Plains
Unfortunately, breast cancer is common and significantly impacts the lives of women and their families. Lay guidance often lacks health professional insight; and health professionals often lack the personal experience that is relevant to women with breast cancer. “The Sensitive One”, by Susan Francis Morris, offers both. A registered nurse, Morris has the clinicians’ insight to disease and medical care, and, unfortunately, also has the personal perspective of surviving breast cancer herself. Morris’ insights into how adverse childhood experiences influence our health later in life is cutting edge. The book is a delight to read. I am sure that it will become loved by women and their families, particularly those who are living through the diagnosis of breast cancer.
​
Rebecca G Rogers, MD
The Sensitive One is incredible— could not put it down. Susan takes us back and forth through her life’s journey in very unique twists and turns. Her research and insights are thought provoking as she reflects back on her traumatic childhood and its impact on her as she matures to adulthood.
This book is a must have and a must read!
​
Deborah Beezley
St Louis, Missouri
