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    The Girl With Nine Wigs: A Memoir
    The Girl With Nine Wigs: A Memoir
    The Girl With Nine Wigs: A Memoir
    Audiobook6 hours

    The Girl With Nine Wigs: A Memoir

    Written by Sophie van der Stap

    Narrated by Amanda Leigh Cobb

    3/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    'It's Saturday and everything is different. No, I didn't go to the market this morning and I didn't have my usual coffee on Westerstraat. And no, I wasn't getting ready for a new semester at college. Next Monday, January 31st, I have to admit myself at the hospital for my first chemotherapy session. For the next two months, I'm expected each week for a fresh shot of vincristine, etoposide, ifosfamide and loads more exciting abracadabra.' Sophie is twenty-one when she is diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of cancer. A striking, fun-loving student, her world is reduced overnight to the sterile confines of a hospital. But within these walls Sophie discovers a whole new world of white coats, gossiping nurses, and sexy doctors; of shared rooms, hair loss, and eyebrow pencils. As wigs become a crucial part of Sophie's new life, she reclaims a sense of self-expression. Each of Sophie's nine wigs makes her feel stronger and gives her a distinct personality, and that is why each has its own name: Stella, Sue, Daisy, Blondie, Platina, Uma, Pam, Lydia, and BebE. There's a bit of Sophie in all of them, and they reveal as much as they hide. Sophie is determined to be much more than a cancer patient. With refreshing candor and a keen eye for the absurd, Sophie van der Stap's The Girl With Nine Wigs makes you smile when you least expect it. SOPHIE VAN DER STAP was 21 years old when she was diagnosed with cancer. Today she is 31 and the international ambassador and spokesperson for Orange Ribbon International, a charity organization whose mission is to make the eradication of childhood cancer a priority. She has written two novels and lives in Paris, France. An extraordinary book from an extraordinary girl. (Marie Claire (Germany)) [Sophie's diary] will give you goosebumps. (Elle Girl (Germany)) The grandeur of this book does not rest only in the description of pain that Sophie suffered but also the courage with which she suffered it. What Sophie van der Stap has written is truly a masterpiece; she has managed to seize the lightness in the gravest of situations. (Der Spiegel (Germany))
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateSep 29, 2015
    ISBN9781490699424
    The Girl With Nine Wigs: A Memoir

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    Reviews for The Girl With Nine Wigs

    3/5

    53 ratings3 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Sophie van der Stap, 32 years old, writes of her 54 weeks of cancer treatment after diagnosis in 2005, when she was just 21. Using her contemporaneous journals and blog, Sophie allows us to suffer her frightening, painful treatment for rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare aggressive form of cancer. The horror of her situation is offset by her youthful, hip approach to adversity.Fortunately, Sophie had the constant support of her mother, sister and father, as well as a close group of friends, including another cancer patient. Also, Sophie has the assets of self-confidence, youth and beauty, which lead her to become the “Girl with Nine Wigs,” each with a different personality.The wig journey began in the hospital wig shop, where the sales woman sold her an ugly, poufy outdated wig, that looked like a beehive. It was itchy and totally alien, not a wig that could become Sophie or any character Sophie would like to be. She named it “Stella,” a stodgy old lady name.Inspired by a cancer patient in “Sex and the City” who wore a different wig every night, “each one more fabulous than the last,” Sophie found a theater-supply store with chic, fun, dramatic wigs. Daisy, a wig of long blond curls falling over Sophie’s shoulders, is the first choice. A short, spicy red wig is next, christened Sue. Daisy is playful, mischievous and light-hearted, concerned with summer dresses, rather than chemo and radiation. Sue is strong, decisive, bold and edgy. Next, comes Blondie, a short, sexy blond bob made of real hair. Blondie is confident and independent. Shortly, six more wigs follow, each with a distinctive personality: Platina, Uma, Pam, Lydia, and Bebé. These are not just wigs, but mechanisms that give Sophie a new sense of self.“The Girl with Nine Wigs” earns the term “chick-lit” because Sophie tells her story from the view of a young woman looking for romance, enjoying parties, make-up, and fashion. Her first impression of doctors is an analysis of what they are wearing, particularly, shoes. Pulmonologist, Dr. K a.k.a. Dr. McDreamy, a heart-throb, wears black leather brogues. The oncologist, Dr. L, a.k.a. Dr. Pr*ck, is not so warm and attractive.Sophie writes of her crushes and romantic interludes, as well as night-sweats and vomiting caused by chemo. She focuses on eyeliner, eyebrow pencil and long false eyelashes, when the treatment causes total hair loss.An interlude between chemotherapy and radiation allows Sophie to vacation in Saint-Tropez with her best friend, Annabel. They party in the garden of “some ridiculously wealthy American movie producer,” where she drinks champagne among beautiful women and beautiful men, including Ivana Trump, Catherine Deneuve, Nataliz Vodianova, and Paris Hilton, who has the longest legs and the most complicated strappy sandals Sophie has ever seen.In short, “The Girl with Nine Wigs” is a well-told tale of a young woman fighting to save her life from cancer, bravely dealing with the misery of chemotherapy and radiation treatment lasting 54 weeks, while maintaining her youthful appreciation of life throughout all. While the chick-lit part was not my cup of tea, I appreciated Sophie's perspective on the ordeal.
    • 4/5
      Mit 21 Jahren die Diagnose zu hören bekommen: Krebs, selten, aggressiv, metastasierend - sicherlich eine Horrorvorstellung für jeden. Sophie trifft dieses Schicksal, doch statt zu verzweifeln oder zu resignieren, nimmt sie auf ihre Art den Kampf gegen die Krankheit auf. Sie bewahrt sich ihre Fröhlichkeit und Lebensfreude, und den Verlust ihrer Haare nimmt sie als Gelegenheit, durch unterschiedlichste Perücken Facetten ihrer Persönlichkeit und ihrer Stimmungen auszuleben. Offen bis weit über die Schmerzgrenze hinaus berichtet sie von ihren Ängsten, Zweifeln und Befürchtungen, aber ebenso auch von der Bereicherung die die Krankheit für ihr Leben mit sich bringt.
      Ein ungemein ehrliches, erschreckendes aber auch ausgesprochen Mut machendes Buch - nicht nur für an Krebs Erkrankte. Auch wenn es keine Lösung im Sinne von Heilung gibt (was auf Sophie nicht zutrifft), zeigt es, dass man das Leben dennoch genießen kann. Im Hier und Jetzt!
    • 4/5
      A book about a girl my age who gets cancer. She has to cope with this fact, but also with the fact that she will go bald. This is why she buys nine wigs, one for each of her moods. I could never be friends with her, because we are so different. She sleeps with all kinds of men, and is a lot vainer than I am. This does not mean that I don't like her. It means I can't identify with her. I like her, and her bravery, a lot and I sincerely hope that she will stay healthy.