First published 2010
Nancy Brinker watches her beloved sister Suzy battle breast cancer in an era when the disease carries shame and silence. In 1977, doctors offer few options and little hope. Suzy endures brutal treatments while asking Nancy to make impossible promises: end the stigma, fund research, cure breast cancer forever. After Suzy dies at thirty-six, Nancy channels her rage and sorrow into action. Armed with only a shoebox of donor names, she builds Susan G. Komen for the Cure from nothing. Her husband Norman Brinker, a restaurant magnate, teaches her entrepreneurial strategies that transform her foundation into a powerhouse. When Nancy herself faces breast cancer in 1984, her mission becomes personal again. She survives and expands the organization into a global force that raises over $1.5 billion, creates the pink ribbon symbol, and launches millions of participants in Race for the Cure events. The book chronicles how one woman's promise to her dying sister changed medical research, public awareness, and survival rates worldwide.
Genres: medical, 20th-century, social-issues, non-fiction, biography-memoir, health, 21st-century, activism
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-journey, promise, social-activism
Setting: United States
Period: 1970s, 1980s
368 pages · Hardcover · Crown Archetype
Content warnings: death, terminal-illness