Reviews of

Angels in the Wilderness

by Katharine Smith

Review from the GoodBookStall website

Katharine Smith has written this book ‘to bring hope and courage to all those who suffer in the wilderness of depression, and those who live with them and love them’. She has herself suffered from a life time of living in that ‘Wilderness’

She describes the feelings of someone suffering from clinical depression and the effects it can have on every minute of their days. Day after day after day, there is no quick fix for this illness – but there is hope! As we travel the journey with Katherine as our guide she becomes an understanding friend to sufferer and carer alike. She describes the effects on her own life and introduces relevant Bible quotations and then Bible themes and stories which she then interprets for us relating them to the experience of depression. The final chapter ‘The Day of Resurrection’ I found very moving: the joy of others at Eastertide that can make someone with this illness feel even worse; but then comes the hope, the description of slow recovery, showing sufferer and carers alike recovery is possible. Set out in a way that can be read in short pieces for those who cannot manage more, with descriptive yet simple illustrations that express the anguish of those involved, this is a very special book.

Review from the Sign and Home Words

Congratulations to all involved in this book: not only the author, who writes openly about living with depression, but also the editor, designer, and publisher for having the confidence and insight to make this such a striking book. The illustrations - barbed wire, little tie on labels with verses from Mark's Gospel, and Bird of Paradise flowers - convey the book's meaning as much as the words. And they tell you about Smith's life: the intractability of the barbed wire, the fragility of the little labels with which God's word is attached to the wire, and then finally the flowers, spiky and unexpected and yet beautiful. Smith describes how her hold on life seemed to be severed, how one day she started to cry and couldn't stop. The depression that followed made work impossible, and she describes something of what that is like. The book then shifts, and she works through passages in St Mark, discussing how Jesus responded to the damaged people he encountered, such as the demoniac found raging among the tombs.

And then, of course, there is Christ's death and resurrection. A key point Smith makes is that, in the Good Friday of depression, you have no inkling that Easter Day is coming. Her encouragement is that it is possible to make little resurrection steps out of the depths, and that the inevitable steps backwards, discouraging though they are, do not send you back to the bottom. A compassionate and encouraging book.

Review by Sylvia (from RP Books website)

I am not a sufferer of depression myself, but I come from the perspective of a puzzled and saddened family member. As such, I found the book really illuminating. It is so helpful to read in the introduction that the writer, who is a Christian, has herself been through these experiences. From the point of view of a carer, that authenticity is so helpful.

The author makes no false attempt to change the feelings of the sufferer, but offers Jesus’ healing in a clear and simple way. In particular, the image of depression as a journey through the wilderness is such a positive one: it implies movement, travel and progress towards ultimate healing; this in contrast to the stagnant, trapped and hopeless feelings involved in depression.

The presentation of the book is excellent, so in keeping with the theme. The stark use of images is very appropriate, and the layout is clear and uncluttered. The use of short, separate paragraphs, emphasised by changes in colour and font, are most attractive when concentration on regular dense text is difficult or nigh impossible.

I was delighted to have received this book as a gift, and can’t wait to pass it on to my daughter, who is caring for her depressed bipolar husband. I pray that it will bring them both hope and comfort as they journey together.

 

BACK TO "ANGELS IN THE WILDERNESS"

BACK TO "FINDING GOD IN DEPRESSION"

BUY "ANGELS IN THE WILDERNESS"

BACK TO HOME PAGE