This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
"As I courageously sat down to write 'Love For Our Afflictions', I did so with blurred vision and a keyboard drenched from all the tears. As I wept and wrote, it was with the sincere hope that my story would one day help someone else. I wrote honestly-‐-‐sometimes to my detriment-‐-‐but inside are more truths and revelations than I thought would be revealed."
Ariana Carruth is a native Texan from the Texas Hill Country. A lifelong writer, Carruth found solace in a time of loss and uncertainty by writing her story. As she wept and wrote, she began to heal, and it was then she must share her story with others so they could find a similar comfort.
"This book (Love For Our Afflictions) will hopefully touch others with its powerful honesty. It addresses infidelity, pregnancy loss, raising children with special needs, life, death, grief, international movies, spirituality, Judaism conversion, marriage, family and so much more. It is a book about self-revelations. The story challenges us to 'allow' ourselves to move forward," says Carruth.
Reviewed by Karen Pirnot for Readers' Favorite
In her memoir Love For Our Afflictions, author Arianna Carruth explains how she has attempted to manage emotional pain following several miscarriages and the infidelity of her husband. The couple has one child but is having difficulty carrying another child to term. When they again become pregnant, they find out they will have a special needs child. In between this, the author discovers her husband is having an affair. They seek counseling and, within two weeks, consider that they are healing the relationship and ready to again expand the family. They are then transferred to Norway where the author is initially disappointed. Eventually, she begins to see Norway as a home and when the couple returns to the USA, the author becomes disillusioned with the shallow lifestyle of Americans. There are ongoing issues with the special needs child but the couple elects to attempt to again conceive. There are family squabbles and the author loses her job and then, the pregnancy with the third child gets more complicated.
At times, it felt as if I was reading the same script several times. Love For Our Afflictions seemed to follow a predictable course in that the author would become disillusioned and then would find a way out and then, a crisis would again emerge. I never got a clear feeling that the couple was moving ahead but rather, they simply learned to become more cohesive while enduring the crises. Of course, that is itself a victory for a struggling marriage and the author deserves credit for staying the course. For me, the memoir was a bit victim-oriented but it does hold promise for giving comfort to other couples who struggle with like issues.
