"I couldn't put it down. A heart-rending story that has to be told. Very powerful. A superb work by a new writer." Barbara Seagram, author of 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know

"Power over one's mortality is something few truly have. A Courageous Battle asks many intriguing questions, proving a poignant and powerful read, highly recommended." Midwest Book Review

"People will get so much out of this book. I find myself stopping my work and turning to it, waking at night and turning to it." Donna Douglas, www.donnadouglas.com, Barrie Advance

"An interesting story with a powerful message. The Appendix is wonderfully comprehensive and complete." Brian Finnemore, M.D.

"A busy book, rich in life and love, ending with a graceful death." Derek Humphry, best-selling author of Final Exit

"A tragic and joyful story of death, desire, loss, and renewal. A good read. It is 1968. Lacey Wilson is 18, pregnant, and unwed. Abortion is illegal in Canada. What happens next will resonate with the baby boom generation: marriage, three children, economic hardship, divorce, remarriage, economic success, and terminal cancer. Flash forward to 2011. Lacey is dying before her time. Intent on finding freedom, Lacey explores her choices, and she finds her solution, in Mexico. There are enormous risks. In a surprising "gift exchange" Jana, Lacey's beloved daughter, emerges as the hero to give death to the loving mother who gave her life. The help, however, is not quite what one would expect." Russel Ogden, Dept. of Criminology, Dept. of Sociology, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, B.C.

"In Canadian author Susan Bracken's new book, A Courageous Battle, art and life echo each other. The reader soon suspects the book must be partly autobiographical, because only through the author's personal experience could the characters and their situations be so sharply drawn, the raw emotions expressed so clearly. One central character, Lacey, is a successful author of popular romantic fiction who honed her skills on her own tortured childhood and disastrous first marriage. Her beloved daughter, Jana, is the second pillar supporting the plot as it ricochets around the men in their lives and repeatedly confronts the third pillar, death. Bracken cleverly harnesses the romance novel genre to draw the reader into confrontation with the realities of disease and demise and makes it clear that though the enemy cannot be defeated it can be outmaneuvered and one does not have to go gently. The novel addresses important contemporary issues and is challenging and thought-provoking. The Appendix provides an outstanding "compendium of factual information about end of life choices", and adds to the value of this book". Jerry Metz, M.D., Medical Director, Final Exit Network

"A profoundly insightful and empathic novel," Richard N. Cote, Corinthian Books, 2011