Publishers Weekly
10/14/2019
Brown follows up Shades of Light with this pleasing novella that continues the story of Wren Crawford and Kit Rhodes, who first met at New Hope Retreat Center in rural Michigan. Wren is still overcoming depression and grief after the death of her friend Casey. She gets help from Kit, director of New Hope, who has been a comfort throughout Wren’s recovery. But as Kit helps Wren, Kit’s own emotional wounds reopen, though she’d thought they were long since dealt with. Through a series of faith-filled letters to Wren, Kit reflects on her past, including a difficult divorce and the quick remarriage of her ex-husband. Wren, meanwhile, works through her grief and finds some happiness in the paintings she makes for New Hope’s Journey to the Cross prayer walk. Through Kit’s letters and Wren’s paintings—rendered in colorful prints by artist Elizabeth Ivy Hawkins—the characters’ quiet battles to overcome trauma become outlets for opening themselves to God’s love. Brown’s stirring tale also comes with a Journey to the Cross reflection guide, making this perfect for Christians who appreciate stories that dive deeply into scripture. (Dec.)
Gem Fadling
"Most of us find grief and waiting to be two of the most challenging aspects of life. With the skillful precision of a spiritual director, Sharon Garlough Brown connects us with engaging characters who are working through deep loss. Remember Me offers hope in the midst of waiting and empathy in the midst of grief. Thank you, Sharon, for leading us straight to the cross, where we find a suffering Christ, ready to meet us."
Sarah Arthur
"If the literary world had a spiritual director, Sharon Garlough Brown would be it. Through the backdoor of the imagination, she encourages us to brave vulnerability in spiritual friendships and gently prods us toward a more robust vision of genuine community. I can think of no other living novelist doing this so consistently, with such wisdom, excellence, and patience."
Lucinda Secrest McDowell
"Can the path of suffering and grief carry us to a place of healing as we journey to the cross? Author Sharon Garlough Brown's new book Remember Me offers a stunningly beautiful narrative of restoration and redemption in two women's lives. . . . I loved this tender telling of the slow dance into new life and highly recommend it for any season of sorrow, but especially during Lent. I'm grateful it includes a Stations of the Cross personal exercise. What a poignant reminder that new life will come as we persevere in seeking the Lord."
Beth A. Booram
"One of the deepest human longings is the longing to be understood—and there are few experiences in life when this ache surfaces more urgently than in the throes of depression and grief. In Remember Me, Sharon Garlough Brown vividly illuminates what it's like to be engulfed in depression's shadow and isolated by its despair. She puts words to what many of us have experienced but lack a vocabulary to describe. Through the sometimes tentative yet always tender support given by Kit to Wren, Brown illustrates what it looks like to heal in and through relationship. This novella is unquestionably written for those longing to be understood and those seeking to understand the desolate experience of mental illness."
Elizabeth Musser
"Remember Me, Sharon Garlough Brown's sequel to Shades of Light, is a novella filled with heartbreaking beauty and profound truth. Readers will savor this story as they join Kit and Wren on a Lenten journey contemplating the stations of the cross. Kit's letters to Wren, grace filled and laced with deep sorrow from her own trauma and heartbreak, show how Christ uses 'companions in sorrow' to come alongside those who are grieving. There are no easy answers here, but the reader is invited to sit with both Kit and Wren in the not knowing, not having the answers they hoped for, not having one kind of closure but finding closure in a better way. The artwork and reflection questions add yet another dimension to this potentially life-changing message. I found great hope and freedom in this story."
Amy Boucher Pye
"I've already read Remember Me more than once, and as with all of Sharon Garlough Brown's novels, I'll savor it again. Through her true-to-life characters and powerful story, she interweaves themes of suffering, lament, and mental health with beauty, hope, and resurrection. When I finished it, my faith in our living, loving God was strengthened and renewed."
Carol A. Berry
"Sharon Garlough Brown understands the powerful potential of letter writing and art to express deepest feelings. She lets one of the protagonists of her beautifully and sensitively written novel bare her soul, expose her grief, and affirm her deep faith to the young artist struggling with her own grief and faith and confidence in her artistic abilities. For both the writer of the letters and the receiver, this thoughtful way of communicating brings peace, resolution, and healing. Remember Me offers the reader a powerful tool of self-reflection and a safe and intimate way to explore the depths of the soul—through letter-journaling as well as through the expressive language of art."
Alan Fadling
"When we face great pain or loss, these are the times when we may be tempted to ask whether God's care is reliable. And it is especially in times like these when Jesus speaks from the place of his cross. He empathizes with us and is present to help. In Remember Me, Sharon tells a compelling and grace-rich story that helps us enter into these realities. I was touched and helped as I read. I believe you will be, too."
