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Irish authors have launched a social media campaign to get Emma Hannigan's latest novel, Letters To My Daughters, to number one after the mother-of-two revealed she has "little time left" to live.
Hannigan, 45, has been battling cancer for more than a decade. She was originally diagnosed with the disease in 2007, despite having had radical preventative surgery two years earlier after discovering she was a carrier of the cancer gene BRCA1.
She beat the disease on 10 separate occasions, but revealed on her www.facebook.com/pg/Author-Emma-Hannigan-170231413020818/posts/">Facebook page on Friday (16th February) that all treatment options for fighting her cancer "have now been exhausted".
Hannigan wrote: "All good things must come to an end. The time that I knew was borrowed must be given back soon, so it seems. The conversation I never wanted to have has been said. My medical team have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at this fight but all avenues have now been exhausted."
The author said she was "broken-hearted" but thanked her fans for the strength they had given her. "Life is so very precious. We never know the day or hour that it will be whipped away. So fill your days with as much happiness as you can muster," she urged them.
Hannigan's fight with cancer is detailed in her memoir Talk to the Headscarf. Among her novels, all published by Headline in the UK, are Designer Genes, Miss Conceived, The Pink Ladies Club, Keeping Mum, Perfect Wives, Driving Home for Christmas, The Summer Guest, The Heart of Winter and The Secrets We Share.
Hannigan said she was "immensely proud" of her latest novel, Letters to My Daughters. It is described by her publishers as "a spell-binding story about the complicated bonds between women - daughters, mothers, sisters - and how love and happiness comes in many guises".
"These characters were as real to me as all the others," said Hannigan of the book. "They grew on me and some annoyed me at times, but as always, they were mine. Enjoy them, curl up with some chocolate or some comfort food and a cup or a glass of what ever tickles your fancy."
Fans of the book include author Marian Keyes who called it "warm, intelligent and brilliant". Keyes went on to say on Twitter that she thought Hannigan's diagnosis was "awful news" and rallied the author community to help get her "great" book to number one.
"Just finished Emma Hannigan's Letters To My Daughters - a brilliant page-turner, full of warmth and emotional intelligence," she said. "The awful news that, after 13 years of cancer, Emma's doctors have stopped treatment. Her fellow authors would like to get this great book to No 1 for her."
Penguin author Liz Nugent also joined the campaign: "As you might know by now, Emma Hannigan is dying after 13 years of cancer treatment. Her family and friends here and abroad are devastated. Let's get her book to number one."
Irish independent bookseller Dubray Books further pledged to donate all profits from its sales of Letters To My Daughters "to support anyone who has been touched by cancer".
The store added on Twitter: "Buy it because, as always, it’s a wonderful book."
Carmel Harrington, author of Cold Feet: The Lost Years, wrote: "The outpouring of love and support for Emma, from both the writing community and readers alike, is everything that is good in the world. Keep it going everyone."