Staying Alive: A Family Memoir

by Janet Reibstein

Staying Alive is the beautifully wrought memoir of three generations of family life, beginning in depression-era Paterson, New Jersey, where the three Smith sisters-Janet Reibstein's mother and two aunts-and their close-knit extended, Jewish family settle in the New World. Over fifty years, we see Janet's relatives grow into the professionally successful, ethnically mixed family typical in America today. What makes it atypical is the specter of breast cancer that hangs like a dark cloud over all the women in the family. It claims her two aunts first, then her mother, then a cousin. Finally Janet faces a far-reaching to break the pattern and undergo a preemptive mastectomy. This family portrait is also a palimpsest of the history of the disease. We see how support systems and awareness have grown over the years and how advances in research give women fighting breast cancer a higher survival rate and more humane treatments than the dark years of the Smith girls' early struggles.Staying Alive is at once heartbreaking and heartwarming, a brilliant rendering of the emotional and psychological shadows cast on both the afflicted and the family members who support them. It is a story of sisters, of mothers and daughters, and also the men who loved them. In the end we are inspired by the extraordinary strength of these women, by their will to fight the disease, and the power of love in survival.

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Mya · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I started this book thinking it was a story related to surviving the second World War (and if, unlike me, you read the blurb, you'll know that it isn't). I felt a little blindsided once I realised my mistake as I've recently had a family member undergo treatment and surgery for breast cancer, so almost put it down worrying about "triggers". However, I decided to give it a chance.

It's a pretty solid read and didn't drag, which I liked. It tells the stories of mainly the two generations and how their experience of breast cancer parallels the developments in medical science and the disease's movement from "the shadows" to how we talk about it today. Some of the story is told through the form of journals and there are poems written by the author's mother scattered through the book. This creates a sense of authenticity for both the author's personal journey as well as her mother's.

I think most women should probably read this story, if only to know a bit more about the options out there and the reality of dealing with breast cancer.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book would be interesting. It was written by a woman who’s mother, two aunts and cousin all had breast cancer (mom and aunts died from it). Back in the 40s-70s, Breast cancer was a private, shameful disease and only old women supposedly got it. There wasn’t much support or understanding.
The first half of the book was mostly about her mother and two aunts and their lives and battles with cancer. I kept thinking it should be interesting but instead, I ended up skimming most of it because I felt like it should have been kept as a family memoir. I didn’t care about her mom’s schooling or jobs and didn’t find it added to the story. The second half of the book was more interesting as it was more about the author’s decision to have her breasts removed prophylactically.

[Lorre Goldberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book engaging, easy to read, enlightening and educational. It's encouraging to see how women have taken charge of a profession and care that is so personal to them. I felt history unfold in front of me with the sheer determination that Janet Reibstein relayed as she revealed the journey her mother, her aunts, her cousin and she herself took. B"h, I know nothing personal about breast cancer. I feel I can be more compassionate to those around me who have battled it because of the honest account that Janet Reibstein shared with us.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rate this a 4 since I can relate to the this family cancer memoir. Sometimes being part of a larger group of women with a genetic mutation helps soothe my own personal loneliness with cancer. I would not recommend this to people unless they are interested in breast cancer. After reading I thought Renee or I should have written a book too.