Ann Patchett's Truth And Beauty

The book Truth and Beauty, written by Ann Patchett is a story of her close friendship with famous writer, Lucy Grealy. Grealy, author of Autobiography of a Face, was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma (a type of cancer), in which left her with part of her jaw due to intense chemotherapy. This book gives the true description of the love and loyalty shared by two young women who struggle to find themselves and their purpose as they embark on their journey to become successful writers.
The two young women meet in 1981, in college, shortly after enrolling in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Described to be the smartest girl in class, Grealy was well known and liked on the Sarah Lawrence campus. Convinced that she was a celebrity, Patchett initially declined the start of a friendship with Grealy, out of fear that she was to boring and shy. After getting an apartment together, Patchett and Grealy soon clicked and their friendship began to blossom over time.
Grealy, feeling unloved and lonely, eventually looked to sex as an outlet. She began to confuse lust with love as a man, identified by “B”, began to show her the attention that no one else would. She often struggled to love herself, asking Ann, “Do you love me?”
Disappointed by the results of the failed operation, Lucy’s life began to take a turn for the worst. She began to fall into a state of depression as self-hate and a longing for love took over her mind. While Lucy battled with her mind and body, Patchett decided that she could no longer hold together her friend nor their friendship. Their relationship continued to be strained as Lucy became addicted to pain killers and later to heroin. Lucy’s lifelong fight to love herself is cut short when dies from an accidental overdose on December 18, 2004. Feeling guilty for abandoning Lucy, Ann grieves the loss of her best