Australians love the sun – our outdoor lifestyle is part our trademark appeal. It’s also the reason that every thirty minutes someone is diagnosed with melanoma. Why skin cancer is called Australia’s National Cancer, and two out of three Australians are likely to be diagnosed with it before turning 70. Sunburnt is a book about courage, strength and resilience and will make you reflect not only on your own sun exposure but that of all Australians. After living an average Aussie life playing sport, spending languid days on the beach, and falling in love with ocean swimming, Anne Gately received unwelcome news. She had Stage IV melanoma. Yet Anne is one of the lucky ones. After a dire prognosis, she dug deep to face the clear and present prospect of death, head-on. In Sunburnt, her revealing memoir, Anne recounts the emotions and challenges of her life-saving immunotherapy treatment under the care of Professor Georgina Long (2024 Australian of the Year), to come through the other side. When she witnessed younger family members sunbaking and even sunburnt, she was shocked and spurred into action. What is it about our culture that compels us to worship the sun, despite knowing the risks? Through colourful reflections of her childhood, redolent with long days in the great outdoors, Anne pinpoints a way of life that underscored her own sun exposure. Backed up by published research and clear-sighted sociocultural observation, Sunburnt identifies how these cultural norms are unique to Australia and offers practical solutions for change.
