I AM ALIVE - Creating resilience and healing trauma through art

by Nathalie Latham (Illustrator)

184 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2025

Reviews

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book moved me in a way I didn’t expect. It’s not just a story of cancer recovery. it is the story of a soul finding its way back to itself. The raw drawings, the honesty in her pain, and the tenderness with which she shares her healing make this book feel alive.

What touched me most is how she brings spirituality into every chapter. Not as an escape, but as a steady hand guiding her through fear, uncertainty, and transformation. Her journey reminds us that healing isn’t only physical; it is emotional, spiritual, and deeply human.

As a physician, I’ve walked beside many patients through illness. Seeing the way she turned suffering into art, insight, and courage is profoundly inspiring.

Her book is a gift for anyone facing illness, for anyone supporting a loved one, and for anyone needing a reminder that even in the darkest moments, there is light waiting to be found.

I am so grateful she chose to share her story with the world.

[Brian Sharkany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Miss Latham as she guided her Green Sakthi team (among countless other pursuits) for Sri Sakthi Amma at Sri Narayani Peedam in southern India. The appearance, later, of her book took me by surprise, and I was excited to learn more of her life’s journey.
Sparse, powerfully captivating prose brought me to her bedside as her body was nearly taken from her. She brilliantly chronicles the forces that attacked her flesh yet strengthened her soul. Her incredibly passionate drawings represent to me, not so much a battlefield, as they do the tufts of life that managed to survive and thrive amidst the chaos.
I AM ALIVE rises from its pages as an exquisite sculpture, an awe inspiring visual testimony of a life well lived, with a strength I can only barely imagine

[Susan Filan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Am Alive is a luminous testament to what it means to face the unthinkable- and choose life. A breathtaking expression of resilience and spirit, it is raw, honest, and profoundly human. Nathalie Latham transmits her story through every brushstroke and word. Her art becomes a living language of resilience, surrender, and rebirth.

As someone who understands what it is to walk through fire and come out changed, I found it both devastating and uplifting. She shows us that healing is not about returning to who we were -it’s about becoming who we truly are.

This book is for anyone who has been brought to their knees and is ready to rise again. It is a mirror, a companion, and a work of art that reminds us all: being alive is the greatest miracle of all.

Susan F. Filan, Lawyer, former MSNBC Senior Legal Analyst, and Wake-Up Call Speaker & Life Strategist

[Calvin Niles · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a moving book. A deeply personal roller-coaster of humour pain and healing. Nathalie Latham writes and draws with a rare kind of honesty. Her story isn’t dramatic for its own sake, it's quietly insightful, and evocative.

I don't recall reading a memoir about illness or recovery. But this was definitely a dialogue between pain and creation, between what breaks us and what brings us back. The art itself carries as much meaning as the words — if not more, each piece a glimpse into a mind and spirit reshaping itself after trauma.

The author allows herself to be seen fragile, faithful, unfinished. And in that openness, there’s something that stirs one's own reflection about resilience, beauty, and what it means to be alive.

[Niki Berg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t had an experience like this in a long time. Nathalie Latham gave me the opportunity to experience viscerally the horror of a cancer diagnosis. With utmost honesty she took me through her process with moving words and gorgeous drawings, overcoming the dreadful diagnosis to a new and cancer-free life. As she tells her story — I weep. I weep for her and her bravery, her determination to get through the harsh and grueling treatment, and to see the light at the end, or should I say, at a new beginning.

As an artist myself and a longtime cancer survivor, it is very moving and affirming to read how her connection to nature, prayer and art helped her through this, and continues to be her guiding light.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nathalie Latham’s amazing book I Am Alive takes the reader with her on her journey through diagnosis,treatment, and eventual cure accompanied by Natalie s beautiful paintings at every step. This unique offering brings the reader into her world of gratitude for the “unconditional love…patience…and kindness” from her spiritual teacher Sri Sakthi Amma who guided her at every step of the way on this journey. This unique book is a must have accompaniment for anyone going through a healing journey, for caregivers, healthcare professionals providing hope and solace in a most beautifully written and presented book.

[Rapunzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nathalie's book takes you on a deeply intimate journey, where colours, shapes, and words touch something essential in your heart and make its strings resonate with the full range of raw and complex human emotions. It carries you into the depths of despair, when life as you know it is shattered, then slowly rebuilds you—cell by cell—until you feel whole and joyful once again. It is an ode to the miracle of life, and to the miracle of the power that gently and lovingly nurtures it. Beautiful, cathartic, and profound.

[Jill Rosenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nathalie Latham has written an emotional masterpiece. This book offers an in-depth exploration of what it means to be diagnosed with cancer, to be treated for cancer and to heal from cancer. Latham’s insights into the role of spirituality in healing are wonderfully specific and deep. I would recommend this book to those not only dealing with cancer from any viewpoint, but also to anyone who wants to read an incredible story about the spirit’s ability to offer resilience, love of self and recovery.

[Reader]

Having recently lost my wife to ovarian cancer this is a raw but truly alive book which is utterly personal and takes the reader through a powerful journey towards healing and transformation. I wonder how my wife would have found it to read. Nathalie has bared herself in all vulnerability as she moves through stages of pain, treatment and eventually transformative aliveness in her journey . The imagery and paintings are rich and profound and I feel they are very accessible at a different level than words

[UAbb · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone who is experiencing something deeply personal. This book with its beautiful message of resilience and acceptance will let you feel the transformative nature of growth.
The drawings are beautiful and at times confronting, which serves to allow the reader to identify with Nathalie’s pain and survival instinct and brings hope and a solidarity to anyone facing life altering challenges.

[Kevin Donaghy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nathalie has managd to do something incredibly unique when telling her cancer story. She has managed to capture her fears, hopes, pain, doubt, support and spiritual being through beautiful images. Accompanied by a written summary of her cancer journey, her images created during a sometimes brutal treatment path are inspiring and make us consider how we express our cancer journey and more importantly, support others on their journey. An artist has spoken and shared.

[Cindy McInnis-Swift · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am Alive is a deeply honest and courageous account of a journey through cancer. It is a testimony about the human spirit, resilience, the grace and power of the divine.
The drawings and paintings are a beautiful example of the therapeutic value of art to express and heal.
A powerful and inspirational read!

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Nathalie, for this beautiful piece of work. I Am Alive is a heartfelt, raw, and deeply inspiring read — a journey through vulnerability, resilience, and the human spirit’s will to heal and grow. Your honesty and courage shine through every page, reminding readers what it truly means to be alive.

[Alistair Palmar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! ❤️

You’re saying that it’s ok to feel pain and experience trauma but to keep going one day a time for that pain shall pass for them like it has for you.

The book and your energy allows them to feel and express what previously they kept inside and gives them a creative outlet.

So happy for you and all those that are impacted by it!!!

[Jessica Fellowes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very beautiful and moving book. In relatively few words, Nathalie conveys her extraordinary journey as an artist through the pain of cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery – all the way through to her fulsome embrace of life and nature. She is a life force and it was a privilege to have discovered this book.

[Jacinta Hayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book of intensity both in color and content. This story is a story of resillience, trust in the divine, honesty and an example of art helping this brave woman hold her to this earth helping her healing process and by sharing her story bringing us beautiful words and visual poems. This is book is deeply moving.

[Fiona Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A life changing book, full of beauty and honesty. The stunning pastel artworks and accompanying deeply personal text, from the dark and visceral images at the start to the joy and light at the end, reflect the fragility and ultimate strength of our humanity.

[Nicola Courtin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really moved me. Nathalie writes and paints with so much honesty and heart. You can feel her strength and vulnerability in every page. I Am Alive reminded me that healing isn’t about being perfect, it’s about finding light even when things feel impossible.

[Stroobant Morgane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book landed on my lap at the most divine timing!
Beautiful and profound in more ways than one...
An inspiring journey to embody surrender and everything in between.
I can not recommend enough, it will crack your heart open with Grace, Light, Courage, Hope, Trust and Devotion.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A raw and honest account of surviving cancer intertwined with a message of surrendering to Divine’s Grace. A beautiful book.

[Sidonie Ronfard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning. Amazed by the beauty of the drawings and words. Extremely precious journey of Life discribed with sincerity and strength. The power of expressing inner light is very inspiring.

[Scott Moutinho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous book! Takes you on a journey of strength & courage! It demonstrates how to choose love over fear. Choosing to stay positive through pain or any kind of turmoil in our lives. A must read!