A fragile hold is a memoir from Ruth Cotton who tells how an incurable disease and progressive disability led her to a more mindful way of living. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1997, it wasn’t until her retirement that the disease exacted its greatest toll – slowly taking her balance and mobility. In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic confined Ruth indoors, news came that her husband’s cancer – melanoma, diagnosed years before – was accelerating. Overwhelmed by a sense of life’s fragility, Ruth turned to writing to make sense of it all. A fragile hold reveals with warmth and unflinching honesty the daily intimate scenes of a life with multiple sclerosis.