Books and entertainment

[Savannahseger]

Hi all! Hope you're doing well, this slightly warmer weather is making a huge difference for me!

I was wondering - do you know of any books or films that have a character with Rheumatoid Arthritis or similar autoimmune diseases? I know there was a film about an artist, I never got around to watching it. I'd love to read a book where I can relate to the main character's struggles. There always seems to be books and films about cancer and terminal illnesses, and also mental illness, but not so much chronic illnesses. One day I'd love to write a novel myself about it! But for now I'm just looking for a good read haha...

[Frankiefocus]

Another Alice: An Inspiring True Story of a Young Woman's Battle to Overcome Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Check out amazon books

[Savannahseger in reply to Frankiefocus]

Thank you so much! I'll have a look xx

[Hessie5]

A Resilient Life, Kat Elton, OTR. One of the first books I bought when diagnosed.

[Savannahseger in reply to Hessie5]

Thank you so much! I'll add it to my list xx

[helixhelix]

The film you are thinking of could be "renoir" about the artist. It wasn't a good film and he wasn't a good man despite having RA, so I wouldn't bother!

You could watch Edith Piaf's film La Vie en Rose, as it's not mentioned but when you know she had RA it puts a totally different twist on her problems.

[Savannahseger in reply to helixhelix]

Potentially! I'll add it to my list, thank you. Definitely craving a movie night : )x

[EmilieD]

Another movie about an artist with RA is Maddie, about the Canadian naive painter Mauf Graham.

[EmilieD in reply to EmilieD]

Maud Graham.

[Savannahseger in reply to EmilieD]

Thank you! I'll save it so I can watch xx

[Savannahseger]

Update: I found this link on Goodreads and thought i'd share with you all: goodreads.com/shelf/show/rh...

Whilst there are a lot of books on there, I was hoping for more of a fiction book / story.

[nomoreheels]

Seems there may be an opener there, how about writing one? I've had a quick search but nothing's out there that I can see. Plenty of autobiographies but personally that doesn't interest me anymore whereas fiction would, I guess like you & we can't be alone. So, you have all the resources, you can talk from personal experience through the protagonist. You know where to look for anything you could be unsure of. It could be a new chapter (sorry!😐) in your RD journey for you.

[Savannahseger in reply to nomoreheels]

Hi! Yes thank you for the motivation and inspiration I graduated with an English degree a few years ago and work in marketing now, but my dream has always been to have a novel published and write about the experiences of RA from a fictional point of view. I wouldn't make it the main part of the story, the main character would have a great story with RD just being a part of it. I think it would help normalise it, you know?

I'm an avid reader but don't feel confident enough in writing. I may do a creative writing course this year and start developing my skills from there. For now, I just read everything I can to help improve my skills, and so reading RA autobiographies would probably still count as good research towards a story.

[NeonkittyUK]

"Send Yourself Roses" autobiography by actress Kathleen Turner is said to be excellent as her career was hampered at one time by her RA which I believe features quite a lot in her book. I had read that her meds caused weight gain and she had a lot of pain whilst making films, so I am quite interested in the book myself. xx

[Savannahseger in reply to NeonkittyUK]

Awesome, thank you so much! Sounds like a very inspiring read, I'll add it to my goodreads list xx

[NeonkittyUK in reply to Savannahseger]

I think it will be a good one ! xx

[Savannahseger]

I'll add it to my list, thank you! It's good to have a list of films that we can relate to I think. It's cathartic! <3