Carlton-on-Trent woman publishes book inspired by her mum’s diaries from the 90s

The mother of a new-born miracle baby has created a book inspired by her mum’s diaries from the ‘90s while she was undergoing cancer treatment.

Lauren Bolus-Jones, 31, of Carlton-on-Trent, published children’s book The Poorly Doll on January 30, a collaborative book between her and her late mother, which explains the effects of chemotherapy and hair loss but also focuses on kindness and love.

Lauren’s mum Debra Hanson-Bolus was diagnosed with breast cancer at 33, shortly after she gave birth to Lauren, and wrote several diaries while she was battling the disease, including the story that led to The Poorly Doll.

“Her diaries are incredible, she is so open in them and it’s literally all her thoughts from the years, but the book, there is something special about it and I knew it would have a purpose,” Lauren said.

Lauren was in her late teens when she found her mum’s notebooks, which her dad collected, but it wasn’t until 2023 that she knew what her mum’s legacy was meant to do.

When she was 21, Lauren was found to be a carrier for the BRCA1 gene, which meant she had an 80% chance of developing breast cancer.

At 22, she underwent a preventive surgery including a mastectomy and reconstruction, but the doctors believed the gene was hormone-driven, which could be triggered by pregnancy.

Sadly, Lauren suffered two miscarriages in 2023 before giving birth to her ‘miracle’ baby George, and hopes that as the BRCA gene she carried was hereditary from female to female that the risk is now much lower for her family.

She said: “Sadly, breast cancer has been a massive part of our life, having breast cancer and battling it.

“I had two miscarriages, but I am a believer in something watching over me as we were pretty certain that if we got pregnant with a little girl, then she would develop the gene.”

In the same year that Lauren had the miscarriages, her boss Claire McLaughlin, who had a child then aged three, developed breast cancer and was undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Wanting to help her friend, she just started typing a book from her mother’s diary, designed some illustrations, and posted it to Claire.

As a child, Lauren loved her dolls, so when writing the story, Debra based it around a doll whose hair fell out due to chemotherapy, but in the published book, the story explains that everything will be alright with a bit of medicine and that with love and kindness, the hair will grow back.

“She called me crying with joy because of the low situation she was in and struggling to tell her three-year-old what was happening, as well as figuring out for herself that losing her hair and this story made it all make sense to her three-year-old,” Lauren said.

“The response was just overwhelming, it was because of her that I found its [the diaries] purpose all these years later.”

Claire told her that she should publish the book, because it could help so many other people as it had her.

She set up a crowdfunding and within a week, she reached her target of £2,000 to pay for an illustrator and put it together for publishers.

“Sadly, while all my miscarriages were happening, this was a lovely little bit of happiness that was a link to my mum going on,” added Lauren.

She signed the contracts for publishing throughout her second miscarriage, but she got pregnant with little George shortly after that, who was born on February 3, 2025.

Lauren will be donating 24 books to Maggie’s centres across the country as her mother was treated at Nottingham City Hospital where the charity has a base, and is also planning to support other charities, schools, and libraries.

“My mother left a pretty strong legacy and I think when George comes to learn about everything, he will realise how truly special his grandma was,” Claire added.

“It is incredible that my mum has not been here for a long time and sharing this experience with her, I don't think I can even put into words how special that is.

“There is such a strong bond with her even though she's not here and it is really overwhelming to see our names together.”