Jane Rudden

The first book on the subject of breast cancer survival from the point of view of a woman who has the support of seven sisters, If We Must Dance, Then I Will Lead combines memoir and science writing. A fresh voice tells a story of surviving a labyrinth of knives, needles, and radiation beams. Jane and her sisters were cut from the same cloth. The nuns told them, Take it on the chin; Mom said, Offer it up for the poor souls in purgatory; Daddy said, Mind your mother. There they were, grounded in acquiescence, long-suffering, and obedient when the beast tapped her on the shoulder and asked, Shall we dance? If We Must Dance, Then I Will Lead is laced with humor to soften the starkness of medical terminology. Julie, the certified cranial prosthesis fitter, sets Jane up with a wig that gives her a hairstyle that looks like the ladies at Thursday night Bingo. Esther, the breast prosthesis fitter, insists that shes a D cup when shes been a 36B since high school and doesnt like the look of a rubber nipple showing through her sweater! This memoir will encourage women to advocate for themselves in the scary world of oncology.