Customer Reviews

Pursuit of Light: An Extraordinary Journey

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I found this down-to-earth motivating memoir extraordinarily compelling. The author, in my opinion, mastered an avenue of expression for such a difficult subject matter. I appreciated her candor, sense-of-humor and creative style of writing. Read it!

The moment I got this book in my hands I couldn't let go until I was done. A true testimony to the mysteries and resilience of the human spirit coupled with a burning desire to choose to follow a thin sliver of light to the source of something greater. The Talmud teaches "to save one life is as if you have saved the world." This electrifying story of a life saved has the potential to transform many lives; the material in this book is that important and timely. Here the road less taken, though profoundly difficult, makes all the difference not just to ourselves but all whose paths we cross. I urge you to take this journey and learn lessons of a lifetime. Bravo!

We all have hard times, and we've all had some kind of challenges growing up. None compares to Sandy's experience. However, this book is not a "they done me wrong" or "my story's worse than yours" kind of book. Not at all. This book is about choices. It's about that no matter what you've gone through, today is a new today and today is filled with choices -- choices to make your life the life you truly desire. I highly recommend this book as a constant source of inspiration and a reminder that we owe it to oursleves to lead the joyful lives we want!

Sandy Brewer seamlessly writes from a child's perspective to the adult woman she has become. This book will touch, jab and prod every nerve in your body ultimately leaving you with the profound knowledge that we as individuals have "all" the power! Reading this book enlightened me to realize that whenever I have felt rejected in life I was really only rejecting myself. As simple as this concept sounds it really is a monumental theory to put your arms around. Everyone has a story in their lives that they are attached to. These stories are usually tangled up in pain. Sandy's journey and lessons in this book can help anyone untangle their lives and live pain free!!!! Now that's a great concept!

This compelling, powerful, inspiring story demonstrates to people that nobody has to be a victim of their circumstances. We all have choices to make in life and Sandy Brewer is living proof that one does not have to be a victim of their past. She shares her story in a way that compels people to look at their life differently and become aware of the choices we all have in life. Her knowingness about everything in life happening for a reason and obstacles and challenges can be overcome through our decision to choose differently is her message to the world. This book is a MUST READ!"

In a day when memoirs have taken a hit, I feel that Sandy Brewer's honesty, insight and bravery brings a freshness to the genre. This inspiring book about 'overcoming to become' has made an impact on me and touched my heart. In a day and age when drive-thru psychoanalysis is so commonplace, this book has guts and staying power.

Dr. Phil has said, "Stand up and walk out of your history." In Pursuit of Light, Sandy Brewer describes in horrifying detail her abusive childhood and her journey as an adult walking away from the hell she endured in her parents' home. Part memoir, part self-help, Pursuit of Light could have been just a tragic recount of child abuse. But the author doesn't ask for sympathy because she refuses to be a victim, and if she can overcome a childhood like THIS, what excuse do you and I have?

While her early story is at times hard to read, it is a necessary part of the book for the reader to realize exactly what the author has survived. Through flashback, the book includes numerous scenes of Ginny and Tom, as the author refers to her parents, inflicting physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. But because of Sandy's sense of humor, her wise observations on the power of choice, and her willingness to share her story, the book is hard to put down.

Long after you've finished the book, I guarantee you'll hear Sandy Brewer's voice empowering you to choose well. "I chose to believe my life is not happenstance, and in that choice I felt empowered." This book is a wonderful choice for any reader.

I met the author at a Book-Signing event. I was reluctant to buy the book because it's not a genre I'm normally interested in reading. I was even more reluctant to actually read it. But, read it, I did.

I don't like to read the same old litany: "my parents sucked but, because of my own and exclusive acceptance, I was able to see me--and them--transform into experiencing a wonderful life". This book did not do that. It's not a retelling of the myth that all parents and their actions are to be accepted and they therefore must be allowed to remain in one's life. No, it only speaks to the forgiveness and acceptance part--not the you've got to stay in their lives--no matter what part! Still, the book did take me back into those places of darkness that I've diligently worked my way though. It did, however, show me there really are others who don't teach we all have to practice a forgiveness that forces us to remain in dangerous contact with those who helped teach us some harsh, or even horrid, life lessons.

Thank you, Sandy. Your book reminded me that I need not take on the hurts and fears about my Mother's childhood abuses that she clearly cannot get beyond in her own life. My affirmation: "I need not rescue anyone.", can continue to manifest and gently unfold in my life. May Sinclair, PhD, author, Just How Do Affirmations Work?

Pursuit of Light tells the story of Sandy Brewer, an extraordinary woman who suffered severe physical, emotional and sexual abuse throughout her childhood. It is the story of how she overcame these circumstances to embrace her true self and step into the light.
Late in her book Sandy Brewer retells her first experience seeing a psychologist. After recounting her miserable tale, the psychologist looks coldly back at Sandy and simply asks 'Are you telling the truth?'
And to be honest, I would have probably asked the same thing.
Pursuit of Light is so dark in places that you can't help but wonder, safe and secure in your comfortable life, how such things (plural) could have happened at all. I hear media stories about violent child abuse, but I've never heard of parents plotting to kill their hated offspring. And how often is the news so terrible that we are told that a daughter is twice made pregnant by her father?
But Pursuit of Light is not only dark. Nor is it about a yin and yang balancing act between the darkness that inhabits some human souls and the light that is found in others. No, Sandy's story is about a woman moving from a dark pit to an elevated place of light. It is inspiring and moving and a testament to what the human mind and body can endure.
The narrative effortlessly shifts between horrific tales of abuse told in the first person to Sandy's observations and conclusions of the said terror and how her self-analysis led to her own survival first, and then, later, her healing. The journey was never an easy one, as the reader will discover, but Sandy is eventually led to the same conclusion Viktor Frankl made after suffering as a Jew under Nazi rule: that we are ultimately free to choose how we interpret the things that happen to us. Liberated, Sandy sets herself free and begins to rebuild her life, eventually becoming successful in the field of counseling and public speaking.
Sandy has developed an appealing philosophy towards life that is at the same time both practical and deep. She is open and honest and leaves nothing untouched. The reader cannot help but be left in awe; inspired with a new perspective on suffering and deliverance.
Vince Cooper
Personal Development Forum

Pursuit of Light: An Extraordinary Journey

I am at a loss of words for this book. From the beginning, I had a hard time getting through this book. Nothing seemed to grab me and pull me in to the authors story. I would read a little, but then not pick up the book again for a week. I feel a bit in the minority having read a number of reviews for this book that just loved it. This is why I tell people reviews are a good beginning basis for a book, but it still is going to come down to whether YOU want to read it and if the subject grabs you. Even in my case...I didn't know I wouldn't enjoy it until I started reading it. Sometimes we choose right and sometimes wrong ( I have a few of books on my shelf like that).