Teva Harrison was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at the age of 37. In this brilliant and inspiring hybrid graphic memoir, she documents through comic illustration and short personal essays what it means to live with the disease. She confronts with heartbreaking honesty the crises of identity that cancer brings: a lifelong vegetarian, Teva agrees to use experimental drugs that have been tested on animals. She struggles to reconcile her long-term goals with an uncertain future, balancing the innate sadness of cancer with everyday acts of hope and wonder. She also examines those quiet moments of helplessness and loving with her husband, her family, and her friends, while they all adjust to the new normal.
Ultimately, In-Between Days is redemptive and uplifting, reminding each one of us of how beautiful life is, and what a gift.
In bookstores across Canada and available online at:
Coming to the United States in 2017!
Selected images from In-Between Days:
Praise for In-Between Days
"As someone recovering from a serious illness, I related so deeply to Teva’s work. No one writes about illness like this, it was hard to stop crying (in a happy way) because I felt so understood." Kathleen Hanna, artist, musician (Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, The Julie Ruin), and feminist activist
"Heartbreaking. Profound. Sly and brutal and funny and crushing. Teva Harrison’s In-Between Days is one of the most stunning memoirs I've ever read. Teva’s taught me it’s not about the number of days left to us. It’s about living them completely." Joseph Boyden, author of The Orenda
"With insight and honesty, Teva Harrison invites us to join her on this deeply personal, beautifully expressed journey with cancer. Through this remarkable book, we encounter awkward ironies, the quietly harrowing reality of our mortal human condition, and moments of distilled life and beauty. Wryly unflinching in her examination of her condition, its treatment, and herself, Teva shares with us the gift that emerges from her in-between days." Vincent Lam, author of The Headmaster’s Wager
"Beautiful, heartbreaking, honest, and true, In-Between Days explores not just what it means to live with terminal cancer, but what it means to live with integrity in the face of our mortality. I couldn’t put it down." Alison Pick, author of Between Gods and Far to Go
"Teva Harrison’s memoir is a frank, moving, powerfully minimalist yet deceptively complex work of art. With seemingly simple, but ingeniously pared-down strokes, Harrison bestows upon her readers the gift of complete empathy. Without forcing a thing she makes her readers FEEL how she feels — it’s remarkable! — and by the end of this powerful shared experience, by allowing her readers into her heart and mind, she occupies with us both our present and future. We’re all in great shape, we realize thanks to Harrison, as living, feeling, loving human beings." Guy Maddin, filmmaker
"How does a person live with meaning — and joy — in the face of a terminal cancer diagnosis? Teva Harrison answers this question with pitch-perfect honesty and clarity, even when delving into her own complex contradictions. From Harrison’s rigorous honesty comes wisdom. In-Between Days is a beautiful offering. This book fills my heart. The world is lucky to have Teva Harrison. She truly knows how to live, and to love." Angie Abdou, author of Between
“Teva Harrison’s diagnosis with incurable cancer removes the expectation of an abundance of more— more dreams fulfilled, more time— but focuses her attention on the near and immediate. In this honest and raw memoir, Harrison examines and discovers, grieves, and celebrates, and takes us with her as she crafts a ragged and resonant beauty from her experience in these In-Between Days.” Miranda Hill, author of Sleeping Funny
"There’s no real preparation for how hard Teva Harrison’s stunning graphic novel will hit you. It doesn’t humanize the disease — that would be banal — and it doesn’t aggrandize the journey — that would be self-help bunk. Rather, it portrays the process as something achingly human, a daily tumult of stuff that roughly amounts to survival. Teva Harrison has stared into the abyss. And what has stared back but love?" Richard Poplak, author of Ja No Man
"With great wisdom, Teva Harrison understands that her cancer doesn’t make her special. But this book certainly does. Through her art and her words, we are reminded of the power of creativity, and that hope for the future is an essentially creative act." Andrew Westoll, author of The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary
"Teva’s art and reflections powerfully capture the struggles of being young and facing the certain, yet uncertain end of your life. May we all be this honest with ourselves as we deal with life’s challenges. Inspiring, insightful, contemplative, thank you Teva." Geoff Eaton, Executive Director, Young Adult Cancer Canada
"Teva Harrison is a metastatic voice that I believe is breaking through. By using humour and creativity to draw people in to a challenging topic, Teva is expanding the breast cancer conversation and shedding light on the complexities and nuances of the disease. I believe In-Between Days will help improve public understanding as well as empower and support others dealing with metastatic breast cancer. Beautifully done." MJ DeCoteau, Founder and Executive Director of ReThink Breast Cancer