I used to hide behind my hair. But cancer gave me a buzzcut and helped me find my voice | Joanne Harris

As an author and a woman, I felt my role was to be scrutinised, yet not to speak out. Now, nobody shuts me up

There's a saying my grandmother liked to use: little girls should be seen and not heard. I internalised that idea for much of my life, but when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, something changed. Cancer took a great deal from me, but it gave me back my voice, and now I don't think I'll ever be silent again.

I must have been a difficult child. Much of my childhood features people telling me to be quiet. Schoolteachers. Family members. The man who tried to rape me. The adult who, when I told her, and after having satisfied herself that nothing much had happened, decided that it would be best for me never to mention it again.

Joanne Harris is the author of Chocolat

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