Unparalyzed

Unparalyzed is a personal memoir by Danielle M. Bryan about perseverance and about refusing to let hardship and difficult circumstances have the final word. Winning is part of the story too, and the book treats it as one of the lessons along the way. The late Toni Morrison inspired her to write it.

Bryan wrote it because she could not find the book she wanted to read, one in which she would see herself reflected in another woman with a life like hers. Her own situation is that of a divorced professional woman of color in her thirties, living with a chronic illness that cannot be cured and cannot be seen from the outside, and driven by what she calls insatiable determination.

The memoir is meant as company for women in similar circumstances as they stumble along their own paths. Bryan also writes with her son in mind, hoping to live a big, colorful life that he will be proud of and take inspiration from. Because the book she needed did not yet exist, she wrote it herself.