THE LIGHT FROM A THOUSAND WOUNDS

Hatfield presents a memoir that recounts her college years, her marriage, and her parenting of five children while enduring numerous challenges.

In the late 1990s at California Baptist University, the author writes, she met Arin Hatfield, with whom she felt an immediate connection. They wed in 1999, and Arin’s career as a Christian pastor and their new family’s money troubles led them to live in several different states and take various jobs until, with five children, they came back to Colorado to be near her extended family. Once there, the two faced season after season of trials and hardships that tested the strength of their relationship. Hatfield offers memories of how her husband’s jobs become all-consuming, and of her own solo parenting; this included caring for a child with autism, which she says she frequently found to be overwhelming: “Despite God’s allegedly inerrant wisdom, He had plainly made a mistake. He had chosen the wrong woman to be Grayson’s mother.” She presents affecting stories of teetering on the edge of burnout, and provides a revealing picture of mothering and marriage. She portrays her family members as loving one another fiercely, but she acknowledges that their relationships also went through times of severe strain; the couple’s oldest child struggled with addiction, and another child suffered from the effects of a severe brain injury, sustained during a car accident. The text is mostly the author’s recollections sprinkled with rare moments of remembered conversation. However, its easygoing pace will easily capture the reader’s attention. The book goes into particular detail regarding the author’s desperate attempts to mother a child who had injuring behaviors and trouble regulating their emotions; she also discusses how she dealt with a school that refused to adapt their materials to accommodate the needs of her son. Overall, Hatfield’s vulnerability will make her text relatable to many parents, as when she tells of how she harshly criticized her own parenting skills. The work uncovers unspoken and universal feelings of parents who strive to do the best they can for their children.

An earnest, sorrowful, and relatable remembrance.