THE COOKIE CURE

A mother-and-daughter team build a cookie business after battling cancer.

As a senior in college, 22-year-old Susan Stachler was looking forward to graduating and starting a career. Meanwhile, her mother, Laura, wanted to start a dessert bakery. Then Susan, whose father had battled cancer, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the same cancer that took the life of her namesake aunt. Suddenly, Susan was thrust into the world of chemotherapy and a debilitating sickness beyond anything she could have imagined. Fortunately, her parents, particularly her mother, were with her every step of the way. As she healed from treatment, Laura hired her to work for her baking cookies, especially the gingersnaps that had helped ease her nausea during chemo. As more people began to discover the delicious cookies, Laura decided to narrow her focus and launched Susansnaps, at Atlanta-based company offering “the ultimate gourmet gingersnap cookie.” In a garage that they transformed into a bakery, Susan and Laura produced thousands of the cookies to be sold at food shows, farmers markets, online, and through retail shops. Eventually, local and then national news sites discovered them, helping to propel the company into the spotlight. Stachler's first-person perspective tells the story of how she fought cancer and won and of how she and her mother persevered through a variety of struggles, both physical and emotional, to create a successful business. Letters written by Laura to her dead sister give another viewpoint to this endearing, occasionally sappy tale of love, hope, and courage. Throughout, the devotion between mother and daughter is palpable. The Stachlers' unwavering dedication to their product is also apparent, which will convince readers that they deserve their success.

A sweet story of a strong-willed mother-daughter combo team who stood up to cancer and created a thriving business in the process.