Are we fated to follow in our parents' footsteps? When do we break the chain? How do we stop personal history from repeating?

Julie Stern Joseph tries to answer these questions and others as she confronts the cancer that killed her mother in much the same way it threatens to kill her.

In Am I My Mother's Daughter? we follow Julie, her husband and children on their journey into fear, diagnosis and missed diagnosis and through successful and failed surgeries. We also witness Julie's reaction to the "miracle" medicines that can destroy the patient even as they cure her disease. The reader experiences how alternative medicines and their practitioners touch Julie's soul while helping her in her fight to reclaim her body. We also learn how the author's local Jewish community pulled together and assisted her through her illness.

Uniquely, Julie's husband also shares his viewpoint about what it means to be the spouse of a cancer patient.

Far from being a depressing read, the book is the uplifting story about a successful struggle against a deadly disease, optimistic thinking, positive feeling, faith, and a life-long therapy that heals both the body and the soul.