Beneath Wings of an Angel: Healing the Child Within--A Spiritual Healing Journey to Recovery from Domestic Violence [Hardcover]

Janice Romney Farnsworth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2004

Beneath Wings of an Angel takes you deep into the heart of a disturbing and terrifying world of abuse. The author's struggle from domestic violence to freedom is filled with heartbreaking challenges, and yet she tells of another story - one of great healing faith when God and his angels intervened during her darkest moments. Her story will inspire and encourage others to find their own angels and to begin their fight against domestic violence and to learn that healing the family is the only way to end the abusive cycle.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Impossible to read without empathy and rage. This book is a powerful and true account of domestic violence. -- Dorothy Thompson, The Writer's Life Reviews

Powerful, Inspirational and Educational and so beautifully written with a powerful message that there is hope and there is healing. -- A reviewer, October 29, 2004

This book will have you weeping, cringing, and hopefully wanting to help the next person who says they are abused. -- Janet Elaine Smith, author of best-selling Keith trilogy: Dunnottar, Marylebone and Par for the Course.

This is a must-read book for anyone who has experienced or knows someone who has experienced abuse. -- A reviewer, October 29, 2004

From the Publisher

This true story illustrates the brutality many religious women and children endure without receiving the help they need from their ecclesiastical leaders as they hide behind doors of shame.

A deeply spiritual woman, Janice rises above her challenges and through her writing she teaches others how pain taught her compassion, and how adversity gave her strength to reclaim her spirit’s power.

Her story will inspire and encourage others to reach out, to take a stand and to fight back against domestic violence – healing the family is the only way to end the abusive cycle.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Synergy Books (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974764477
• ISBN-13: 978-0974764474
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,781,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Abuse knows no class, race or religion, September 27, 2005

By 

E. Dian Moore (Moundsville, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beneath Wings of an Angel: Healing the Child Within--A Spiritual Healing Journey to Recovery from Domestic Violence (Hardcover)

Monsters are real. Janice Romney Farnsworth lived with one for fifteen years and bore six children for him. A devout Mormon, Farnsworth believed in the sanctity of marriage, of being a submissive wife and honoring her husband. But what she didn't understand was why her husband repeatedly beat her, demeaned her, turned her children against her, convinced others she was mentally ill and a danger to her children, and raped her.

Faced with this ongoing horror, Farnsworth turned to her Church for help. She was advised to go back and be a better wife, while her batterer enjoyed the full benefits of church membership.

Poignant and eye opening, Beneath Wings of an Angel, is a fascinating look inside the mind of a woman who became a victim of domestic violence. Her nightmare, told in her own voice, complete with her own thoughts of no self-worth so she must deserve it, and the downward spiral of her life, physically and mentally is torment to watch. But it also inspires understanding and a longing to reach out.

Farnsworth has brought forth a look inside the terror of prolonged domestic violence that helps the outside world understand why a woman would stay and submit to the lies and blows of an abuser. She also tells, without excuse, the damage an abusive home heaps upon the children of that home.

Anger, disbelief, understanding, empathy, and rejoicing - all are emotions Farnsworth's story brings about in the reader as the reader experiences the writer's life.

Farnsworth found her path to healing, but only after experiencing the worst that can be dealt.

"During those awful days, I felt like yesterday's trash, and for the most part, really didn't care. I don't know how others coped, but I faced each day with a tear-stained face too tired to take care of myself, emotionally drained and obsessed with revenge."

When Farnsworth was finally able to escape her abusive husband, she then faced trouble with the courts and the danger of having her children taken from her. Her children suffered dreadfully at the hands of their father - not only physically, but emotionally. Today, Farnsworth is still praying for her children's healing.

Beneath Wings of an Angel is unique in several ways - it gives a glimpse inside the Mormon religion and tradition; it chronicles fifteen years of abuse, and more importantly, why she stayed; it also offers hope as Farnsworth details her therapy, a new love that is not abusive, a deeper spiritual awakening and her acknowledgment of the necessity of the continuance of the journey.

Abuse knows no class, race or religion - this book is a stepping stone to freedom from abuse, for counselors and pastors to understand the dynamics of abuse and the need for the Church to be proactive and provide safety for women under attack.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Against all odds, GOD is still there., August 16, 2005

By 

Robert Denson "Sunpiper Press" (sunpiperpress.com) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beneath Wings of an Angel: Healing the Child Within--A Spiritual Healing Journey to Recovery from Domestic Violence (Hardcover)

People often ask, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" When things happen that we just don't believe can be in GOD's plan, we begin to question HIS existence. Where is GOD when a young child is being molested? Where is GOD when innocence is being stolen by evil? People are quick to compare their pains to those of Job, however, not many can actually identify. I believe, however, Janice Romney Farnsworth can.

Author, Janice Romney Farnsworth's life's testimony, Beneath Wings of an Angel: Healing the Child Within, A Spiritual Healing Journey to Recovery from Domestic Violence is a true, modern-day version of the Book of Job. Ms. Farnsworth reveals the torment of her inner soul, as Satan seems to hijack every male that enters into her life and take away everything she has, except her life. She readily admits that even though these men did not end her life, she wanted to end it...and tried.

Beneath Wings of an Angel, the inspirational and spiritual journey of Janice Romney Farnsworth, travels in both directions...into the future and deep into the past. During this journey, she realized that she'd been programmed to be a victim from her earliest of memories. She had dealt with abuse so much; she thought it was the way her life was supposed to be. So what changed Janice Farnsworth? At one of the lowest points in her life, GOD spoke to her.

Since that revelation, Janice Romney Farnsworth has become a champion for women dealing with domestic violence and abuse (and the abuse is not always physical). She is a hero to ALL victims because her story does not stop with her abuse. The abuse is only a steppingstone to the inspiration she received directly from GOD, which she now wishes to share with the world.

Not only does Beneath Wings of an Angel contain the trials of the author, but invaluable information regarding domestic violence. This is an inspirational book that could change your life if you are willing to accept the message. If you are not in need of its powerful message, I'm sure that you know someone who does. Through this book, Janice Romney Farnsworth can supply the tools to help them free themselves from abuse's evil bondage.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Changing, January 11, 2005

By 

Tracey Rosehorse "Rosehorse" (Colorado, U.S.A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beneath Wings of an Angel: Healing the Child Within--A Spiritual Healing Journey to Recovery from Domestic Violence (Hardcover)

This book literally changed my life! The author writes with such brutal honesty, yet with such compassion and integrity, you cannot help but be moved when reading this. It reaches out with help and encouragement to those who are in the cycle of abusive relationships, and educates those who have not experienced these horrors. While reading this book, I was able to both see and stop my own dysfunctional cycle from passing down through generations, and for that I am deeply in gratitude to the author.
A fantastic read for anyone wanting to take the reins in their own lives.