Walking Through Fire: A Memoir of Loss and Redemption

Motivational speaker Risner (The Scars That Shaped Me) divulges a lifetime of hardship and persistence in this powerful memoir. After contracting polio as a baby, Risner learned to live with partial paralysis during a childhood marked by frequent hospitalizations and bullying. While in high school she converted to Christianity and learned to live and thrive, and in grad school married an MBA classmate. But her world began to unravel after several miscarriages and the shock of her husband’s infidelity. Determined to make it work, they went to marriage counseling and finally had a daughter. But when Risner’s second child died due to an error during surgery to fix a heart complication, she began to question her faith. Drawing hope from the Bible, Risner realized that her suffering “wasn’t random or meaningless but that it all had a God-ordained purpose.” After the couple had another daughter, Risner’s husband confessed to another affair and moved out of the house, leaving her to fight feelings of shame and inadequacy about raising her daughters alone. Risner eloquently details how, despite these adversities, she realized that to find happiness and peace she needed to release what she couldn’t control to God. This beautifully redemptive memoir illustrates the staying power of true faith. (Jan.)