Frieda and her five brothers (each of whom had different fathers) grew up within the inner cities of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvanian. Thier wayward mother had an admitted "drinking problem," and spent most of her days in liquor bars. This neglect often left the five siblings to fend for themselves amongst often harsh and unforgiving elements of their city's urban streets. At age seven, as Frieda walked home one late-Spring afternoon, she felt the presence of God, forewarning her of difficult trails ahead. This presence encouraged the child to persevere, despite pending obstacles. Soon, Frieda's faith was tested, as the world around her turned into a series of relentless nightmares ... most of which occurred within the families. A disturbling, though ultimately inspiring, true life account of a young girl's struggle to maintain faith, overcome abuse, sexual assault and the host of demons these crimes introduced. Faith that a better life is possible, if she could escape her dysfunctional environment, was all she had.

The international Catholic weekly.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The New York Times bestselling author of A History of God delivers the gripping, inspirational story about her own search for God. “A story about becoming human, being recognized, finally recognizing oneself…. It fills the reader with hope.” —The Washington Post Book World In 1962, at age seventeen, Karen Armstrong entered a convent, eager to meet God. After seven brutally unhappy years as a nun, she left her order to pursue English literature at Oxford. But convent life had profoundly altered her, and coping with the outside world and her expiring faith proved to be excruciating. Her deep solitude and a terrifying illness–diagnosed only years later as epilepsy—marked her forever as an outsider. In her own mind she was a complete failure: as a nun, as an academic, and as a normal woman capable of intimacy. Her future seemed very much in question until she stumbled into comparative theology. What she found, in learning, thinking, and writing about other religions, was the ecstasy and transcendence she had never felt as a nun.