Closer To Fine
A Cautionary Tale About Navigating the Canadian Health System

About the Book

Closer to Fine is an autobiographical novel about one woman’s incredible journey back from the brink of a devastating prognosis and the healing powers of love. It is as much a love song to her family, as it is a scathing diatribe against the health care system in Canada.

At the age of forty-five, Ruth Kelley is diagnosed with melanoma and given a fifty-fifty chance of survival. With heroic determination, and refusing to accept the resignation with which the doctors treat her case, Ruth pursues all the alternatives: goes south of the border for surgery, threatens to sue the Canadian government, tries medical marijuana and every alternative therapy under the sun.

The results are both hilarious and agonizing.

And all of this while juggling a successful career as a screenwriter and volunteer fundraiser, and the demands of motherhood with a blended family of six children. Throughout the experience, her husband, Robert, provides unerring support, until, once in the clear, he too experiences his own hilarious collapse.

At once uplifting and heartbreaking, Closer to Fine is an intimate story about beating the odds, of defying complacency and triumphing over adversity. Anyone who has ever suffered a setback will find something to laugh and cry about in this book.

About the Author

Pamela Farlinger was born in Toronto and grew up in Montreal. She is an experienced writer, producer and director of Canadian film, television and the theatre and has many films and screenplays to her credit. Closer to Fine is her first novel inspired by her own experiences with illness in the Canadian heath care system and is both immensely readable and visual.

Pamela lives in Toronto with her husband Richard and her blended family of 6 children, step-children and a host of colourful friends and family featured in Closer to Fine.