Lead Poisoning: A memoir

What if the labels meant to shame you became the map to finding yourself?

From the suffocating suburbs of 1970s New Jersey to the raw underground music scenes of New York and Seattle, through addiction's darkest corridors and the unexpected tenderness of motherhood, Janet refuses to be anyone's cautionary tale. Branded a hater, a slut, a junkie—she wears each identity like a second skin, shedding them only when she's ready, not when the world demands it. This is the story of a woman who survived sexual assault, heroin addiction, abusive relationships, and devastating loss—not by becoming someone else, but by finally becoming herself.

Every reinvention costs something. Every escape leaves scars. As Janet navigates the wreckage of her choices—partners lost to drugs and death, a daughter caught in the crossfire, a past that refuses to stay buried—she discovers that survival isn't about erasing who you've been. It's about deciding who you'll become when there's nothing left to prove and no one left to please.

Some women break the rules. Others break free.

If you loved the raw honesty of Educated by Tara Westover and the unflinching self-examination of The Glass Castle, Lead Poisoning will grip you from the first page and refuse to let go.