Journey: Making Decisions When Your Life Depends on It

By Anje Bruch-Hilkers

Follow Anje on her journey from the diagnosis of breast cancer to health. Find courage in every line and humor in every chapter when she relates her confusion and her victories. It is a journey, not a war; Anje refuses to say she is fighting her cancer, instead she sees it as something that came on to her path and is part of herself to have and to let go. Mindfully, she takes time, together with her husband Rob, to choose all treatments carefully, even if, sometimes, that means changing her mind several times.
Whatever your connection to cancer whether you or a loved one either has or had cancer; whether you have lost family or friends or are yourself now living with cancerJourney will give you laughter, sober truths, and warm encounters. It might even change the way you see cancer in the most human of ways.
Anje shows us her way to find direction from the human spirit as she struggled with making choices from conflicting opinions about the best way to survive the cancer that threatened her. She found peace of mind and likely her sanity from the wee small voice within that demanded to be heard above the roar of professional advice. No doubt this will influence others and give them courage to weigh their medical options carefully with the full knowledge of their own life-affirming guidance.Bill MacKay, Author
These writings are windows into a life lived fully, with curiosity and courage. With language that is at once vivid, spare, and evocative, Anje draws the reader into her unique experiences and her unique passage through these experiences. Sometimes serious, often funny, occasionally dark, this small and powerful book will not be put down.Claire Sylvan, B.A., Poet, Author of Turnings

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: May 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781452597188

Anje Bruch-Hilkers

Anje Bruch Hilkers was born in The Netherlands. For 20 years she worked as a pragmatic and unconventional psychiatrist in Amsterdam. Anje was always looking for less harmful and more effective ways to treat her patients, whether that was with regular or alternative methods. She gave lectures about the use of homeopathy in psychiatry in the Netherlands and in Germany. After she met and married Rob Hilkers she moved to Canada. Rob and Anje live with their cat Loekie in the Haliburton Highlands in Ontario, where Anje is an avid organic gardener and working on her first quilt.

Book preview

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Reviews for Journey

[kurdziel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a great story. Especially for readers like me who can’t seem to get through one of his lingered works without taking ‘breaks”—reading other books in between. Michener’s Books are always well-researched, creating charater’s which draw the reader into believing the story is true. Given my lack of knowledge of the gold rush—only knowing it happened, this story brings to life the realities of the people swarming to the site, knowing nothing of the terrain (I defitely never thought of mosquitos in the Arctic)! The moral I took from the story is that no matter how much you think you know, always listen to other’s point of view and weigh it equally with your own. All people are created equal and others recommendations are offered as help. To refuse to consider them is to refuse help—no one person can survive alone in this world—we need each other.

[cathyskye · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Back in the day, I was a huge James Michener fan, and I thought I'd read all his books. Somehow or other, Journey slipped through the cracks, so I was eager to read it-- especially since it takes place during the Klondike Gold Rush during the late 1890s.As Michener states at the end of the book, Journey was originally a chapter in his novel, Alaska, and it had to be cut from the final edition. He liked the story so much that he kept it, and it was published as a novel in 1989. (Only someone like Michener could cut one chapter from his book and have it be long enough for a 200-page novel!)The story follows four English aristocrats and an Irish servant as they take the arduous overland route through Canada, chosen because the leader of the expedition hated America so much that he refused to let even his little toe cross the border into the U.S. In true Michener fashion, I was hooked by the story, the setting, and-- last but not least-- the characters. The U.S.-hating Lord Luton is a supreme example of his class and era, and it's a miracle my eyes didn't lock in the back of my head due to all the eye-rolling he caused me. It's hard for me not to get involved as I read a Michener novel, and Journey was no exception.If you love historical fiction that not only teaches you about history but also tells a wonderful story, you can't go wrong by reading this book-- especially since it's several hundred pages shorter than a standard Michener novel. Who knows? You may get hooked and start reading those Michener "doorstops," too. The man certainly knew how to tell a multi-generational tale, and few authors can even come close.

[minaisham · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

-- I found this slim novel at recycling center. While reading JOURNEY I had to remind myself it's fiction. In a few pages at end of novel there's historical background & Michener explains his writing process. --

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was looking for a book set in the Yukon to read for our sesquicentennial year and I saw this book on a list. I've read a lot of Michener's books but didn't know about this one which is about British gentlemen going to the Klondike Gold Rush using an all-Canadian route. Michener said he wrote this book with two aims in mind: "to acquaint American readers with facts about Canadian existence, and to demonstrate to Canadian readers my respect for the history and achievements of their country." Much of the material in this book was originally included in Michener's book Alaska but it was cut in order to shorten that book. When Michener decided to redo the story as its own book he was able to include more information. He had McClelland and Stewart publish the book and the royalties from the sale went to provide funds for the Journey Prize which is a literary award for the best short story published by an emerging writer in a Canadian literary magazine. That's a pretty amazing legacy for a non-Canadian to leave.While this story is fiction it is based on thorough research of the adventurers who went to the Klondike goldfields through Canada instead of over the Chilkoot Pass from Alaska. I had never realized that so many people took that route to get to the Klondike but it was quite popular with British and Canadian prospectors. The leader of the expedition in this book was Lord Evelyn Luton, a British nobleman who led a crew made up of his cousin, Harry Carpenter, his nephew, Philip Henslow and Philip's friend, Trevor Blythe. Lord Luton also asked his Irish gamekeeper, Tim Fogarty, to join them as the expedition servant. They left Britain in July 1897 by boat, landing in Montreal where they took the railway to Calgary and then a branch line to Edmonton. There was conflicting advice about which route to take from Edmonton but the group decided on a river route using the Athabasca and Mackenzie Rivers to go north. They left Edmonton in the middle of August knowing they could not make it all the way before freeze-up but intending to stay over the winter along the route. They got just short of Fort Norman and established a habitation along the shore of the Gravel River which feeds into the Mackenzie. Having fared quite well over the winter they started out again in June of 1898 but they immediately lost the first of their numbers. By the time their epic journey was over more men would die.Michener lays most of the blame for the tragic outcome of the journey on the shoulders of Lord Luton who was determined to find a route to Dawson City that did not mean entering into US territory despite advice to the contrary. It is hard to believe someone could be so stubborn and high-handed but there are real life precedents for him in the annals of exploration.

[buffalogr · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a story about four aristocrat "brits" and one Irishman who journey to the Klondike gold rush of 1896, over land. It's the tale of an English patrician -- but, I just kept thinking that Luton was "stupid." The book is only 10 hours long and one hour is epilogue. In that epilogue, we learn that this book was to be included as a section of his book, Alaska, but was removed. I kept wondering why he told this story from the overland perspective, vice entry through Skagway, over the pass and down the Yukon; now i know. It was a compelling story with only a few actors...you just want to slap them and say: "Don't do that." I skipped a whole hour of poetry, probably Michener's. One does not read a Michener book to absorb POETRY. All in all, a good book, motivations explained in the epilogue.

[philomath4516 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This being the first Michener book I've every read, I found "Journey" to be a solid, well-written, well-plotted out and executed novel. The characters all had something promising to bring to the table, whether it be previous knowledge of hunting and survival in the wilderness or the ability to seek out the truth despite having to go at it alone and enliven a fellow man's spirits with stories, lectures, and insightful tips and ideas. I felt that the author "stuck to the script" with this book, getting the characters (most of them, anyway) from point A to point B, but making sure to throw in a few mishaps and tragedies here and there to keep the plot from stalling.I particularly enjoyed reading Michener's description of the many disiullsioned, swindled, and downright stupid people who, coming to seek their own riches and glory, had no idea what it meant to live and survive in the wilderness, much less the brutal reality of surviving in such places like the Klondike and on the Mackenzie River. A solid read; would recommend it to anyone with a thirst and a stomach for adventure.

[karenherndon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Haven't read Michener in years. Found this paperback copy in my "Littte Free Library" on the corer of my block.Very short or a Michener but just as good as ny of his longer writings.

[punxsygal · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In July of 1897 the ship Portland docked at Seattle and set off the great gold rush to the Klondike fields. Many adventures set off from Seattle and made their way up to Alaska and into Canada. This tale is part of the book Alaska by James A. Michener. However, a few decided to bypass America all together and made their way through Canada starting at the eastern seaboard. This book is the tale of five such travellers and their experiences in the vastness of the Canadian Arctic. A good read, with a different take on the tale for those familiar with the Alaskan version.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After reading about the Klondike Gold Rush in the newspapers, Lord Evelyn Luton takes a notion to travel to the gold fields in Canada. He's more interested in the adventure than in striking it rich, and for patriotic reasons he determines to travel within the confines of the British Empire, without straying into the United States. His stubborn refusal to take any of the easier routes that would take his party through Alaska leads to tragic consequences for his traveling party.Since I'm not an outdoorsy person, I don't usually read wilderness adventure stories unless there is some other aspect to the story that appeals to me. In this case, I was drawn to the history of the gold rush and to the characters who formed Lord Luton's party - four men from England's privileged class and an Irish servant. One of the travelers carried Palgrave's Golden Treasury, and the poems or fragments of poems scattered through the novel are some of my favorites from my high school days - Robert Herrick's "The Poetry of Dress" and "Counsel to Girls", Shelley's "Ozymandias", Milton's "On His Blindness".This book would be a good choice for supplemental reading in a course on leadership. It illustrates the folly of refusing to alter one's plans in light of new information or a change in circumstance.

[qarae · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was my first Michener book, and I enjoyed it very much. I would definately concider this an easy read, but well done. Journey is the story of a too rich and too bored British Lord hearing about the gold strike in the Klondike and deciding to show the Americans up. James Michener captures the cold and fear and excitement of gold fever.

[santhony_35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Different than typical Michener, but captivating nonetheless. Relatively short novel detailing the story of English aristocrats participating in the Alaskan gold rush.

[jpsnow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Some critics rated this his best. I won't go that far, but I can see why. With a single storyline, it's tighter and allows more development of the characters. Evelyn Luton and 4 companions attempt to journey to the Klondike gold fields while staying on Canadian land. It takes them two years, much longer than necessary. Along the way we meet interesting characters and some stories about character. The man-against-nature theme is strong and, with Michener's approach, informative about that time and place.

[rudik5834 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Many adventurers and gold-diggers trying to reach the fields through the shortest way.An English gentleman with three aristocratic companions challenging the most treacherous terrain,the north route without setting foot on American soil.But as the group drifts into the icy grips of an Artic winter,soon only courage, loyalty and integrity can forestall death in the desolate tundra.The adventure ends quite tragic,nature is simply stronger!The author demonstrats his respect for the history and achievments.