Stars Upside Down: A Memoir of Travel, Grief, and an Incandescent God

Blogger Goutet (A Noble Affair) details her travels abroad, as well as her early adult experiences living in New York City, in this revealing, energetic memoir. She starts with her brief brushes with religion as an adolescent before a more serious consideration of faith as an adult. A Christian counselor convinced her that she needed to accept Jesus during college: “So I took a deep breath and said inwardly, Um. Jesus? I opened the door to my heart so you could come in. Suddenly I felt a little sick. I felt invaded. No, no, ­get out. Get out! I don’t know you.” Eventually, Goutet found this same vulnerable feeling to be reassuring, and became involved in a church in New York. After she got married, Goutet and her husband traveled to Kenya to serve as missionaries. She was unprepared for the poverty and suffering she witnessed, and soon she spiraled into depression. She then describes her volunteer work as a salve for that depression, and spends her final chapters on her current work in France. Goutet demonstrates in this candid and engaging story how maturing spiritually can alleviate depression. (BookLife)