Shades of Light - Sharon Garlough Brown

Having battled depression and anxiety for most of her life, Wren hits a point where she can't continue to cope on her own.  Taking a leave of absence from her emotionally draining job as a social worker, she seeks help, from professionals, from loving extended family, and from those within her faith.  Making progress, she reaches out to help a struggling friend from her past, but can she help him recover without jeopardizing her own fragile healing?

I don't know that I've ever seen a book this gut-wrenchingly open and vulnerable in regards to mental illness, depression, and anxiety.  Sometimes the intensity and the darkness the characters were experiencing was too much, and I needed to step away to catch my own breath.  However, I've never seen a book take on the heaviness of depression and call out and dash all of the typical "Christian" responses of "you just need more faith," or the belief that Christians shouldn't experience depression.  Those aren't Christian answers, they're lazy answers.

There were themes in this book that I am not personally well-acquainted with, such as the stations of the Cross, and while it didn't detract from my reading experience, I think it would make the book an even richer read for those who are familiar with a more mystical approach to Christianity, with some possibly Catholic rituals added in.  (I apologize if I have mis-categorized the rituals in the book)

I have not read any of this author's previous works, and this book stands alone just fine.  However, I did read somewhere that there are some character crossovers, which I think would enhance the background support of this story if the reader were familiar with them.

I give this book 4 stars.  I don't quite know what else I could wish for from this book, and maybe it's the dark subject matter that leaves me feeling too heavy to say I loved it.  That would be through no fault of the author's writing.  But I know that I could not personally pick up this book back up to read again.  At least not anytime soon.

You can find Shades of Light HERE.
You can find the author's page HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.