After living an average Aussie life playing sport and spending long days on the beach, Anne Gately received unwelcome news. She had Stage IV melanoma. After a dire prognosis, she dug deep to face the prospect of death, head-on. In this revealing memoir, she recounts the challenges of her life-saving immunotherapy treatment under the care of Professor Georgina Long (2024 Australian of the Year) who has written the Foreword for the book. 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 socio-cultural observation, Sunburnt identifies how these cultural norms are unique to Australia and offers practical solutions for change.
