When Josepha Dietrich was 21, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Four years after her mother’s death, the disease reared up in Josie’s own cells, this time more aggressively. She was 35, and her high-needs baby son was not yet one. As the daughter of a woman who had sought out alternatives to conventional medicine, Josie used her own knowledge and her mother’s experience to find solutions for herself. Later she also used this experience to help her son rise up out of his profoundly autistic state.

In Danger is Josie’s journey through life with breast cancer from inside the experience, capturing her energy and force-of-nature personality. She reflects on the literary works that inspired her, from cancer literature to other medical memoirs, works that helped her to explore disease and the human condition, and shed light on its darker aspects.

At its heart, this moving memoir delves deep into how it feels when everything you love is in danger.