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Click here to read a review by Nathan P. Gilmour (June 2007)
Click here to read a review by Lydia Schoch (May 2007)
Judith has a true talent for taking her life experiences
and sharing them in a way that moves the reader or audience
to take a look at their own life and take action. Her message
is one that deserves to be heard.
---- Joan Koerber-Walker
The black void into which addictions led
Judith Ann can never be forgotten by anyone who ever loved
her. Addictions turned this witty, charming, funny, sensitive,
literary and brilliant woman into a faithless shadow. The
transformation was heart-breaking, extreme and terrifying.
I am not a religious person by any conceivable definition,
but I know the hand of God when I see it. This is a story
of struggle and redemption and, most importantly, truth.
Judith Ann and her daughter, Olivia, are living proof that
unseen forces are always working (and in Judith Ann's case
putting in overtime) to fashion the perfect solution. If you
need proof of a miracle, your search has ended. What a sad,
inspiring, and ultimately lovely story.
---- Carol L. Vassallo
In spite of knowing better, I had to stop
and remind myself repeatedly that this woman is no longer submerged
in the agony she so vividly describes. The story is sad and
sobering, though Judith is quite articulate and possesses a playful
literary flair. The relentless need to write--even throughout
her addiction and recovery--has supplied the raw material from
which she draws frightening glimpses into her drug induced
insanity. She weaves them into credible (incredible!) vignettes
that give you a sense of her desperation and helplessness. That
she survived to tell her story is miracle enough. That she tells
it so openly and poignantly is remarkable. Judith Ann has much
to offer any who would drink from the well of her experience. The
woman at the well of Sychar believed in Jesus and discovered within
herself a spring of eternal life. The Other Woman at the Well also
discovered Life. Well done Jude, my friend.
---- Phillip E. Long
Judith Ann Hillard paints with her brush
of experience a picture of the insanity of addiction that
is at once ugly in its reality and beautiful in its redemption
and hope. They say no one can describe the ranch like the cowboy
who lived there and while, by the grace of God, Judith has
moved into a new neighborhood she has not forgotten from whence
she came. Perhaps this is part of the necessary process for remaining
sober, not forgetting the past so you don't have to repeat
it. No doubt writing this memoir was cathartic for the author.
It can be equally therapeutic for the reader who needs a shot
of gratitude and to be reminded that, "but for the grace of God,
there go I."
---- Dan Gilliam
Judith, this book was a real eye opener
to your suffering and pain of your addiction. I had no idea the
pain that you and your family/friends have gone through and in
some ways I am glad. The way you put your hand to paper (or
computer) was truly like a song. Very well written but that
is not a surpirse. You took the readers to places that exist
under our very nose and led us out with charm, dignity and
Grace (Olivia). Hopefully this story will inspire others
with addictions to believe in Hope through Miracles. Keep
up the sobriety.
---- Linda Lard
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