The Illuminating Journey of Self-Discovery: A Novel

Shiraz D. Irani: I read the whole book with one hand either on my mouth or my heart.
To all the parents who have had their children taken from them - I wish you love from the bottom of my heart.

India on Jan 24, 2024

Erin M Vogel: I started reading this after reading Where the Forest Meets the Stars for book club. I was hoping for another such magical experience, though at first I wasn't sure it would be nearly as magical as all. But I assure you, it is. While Where the Forest Meets the Stars begins magically and continues like a magical river from beginning to end, The Light Through the Leaves begins without much magic at all, and then the magic just rushes in like a great ocean wave and submerges the reader entirely. It's been a while since I was this swept away by a book, and it was exactly what I needed today (yes, I soaked it all up in just one rainy day).

United States on Jan 20, 2024

Buzy_reading: Ellis married Jonah thinking they were a tight partnership of support. When pushed up against the firm standards of Jonah’s parents it began to take its toll on Ellis. After three children Ellis came to the realization that Jonah wasn’t the man she thought she married. On the day she decided to leave her world came crumbling down when she left her baby in the forest. The only way she knew how to survive was to leave behind everything she once loved.
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Readers follow Ellis’s journey on the road to heal her soul. Heavy is the pain that’s buried deep within her soul. Ellis feels empty and hollow. There’s a deep sorrow inside of her. Glendy Vanderah captured Ellis’s pain, grief, and loss to the point that I had tears in my eyes. It takes powerful words to accomplish this. It’s not easy for me to shed tears. Only a select writers have the ability to bring me to tears.
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Glendy Vanderah introduces Raven and her mother Audrey. Audrey believes in nature without the influence of society and its civilization. Audrey lives in an isolated part of Washington where she teaches Raven how to be one with nature. As the days turn to years Audrey...

United States on Jan 08, 2024

Amazon Customer: I loved this book. Very unusual but very very moving. It gripped you from the start. A very beautiful story.

United Kingdom on Jan 08, 2024

Reader Lady: Loved the ending and the characters. The plot is intriguing and well developed. However, at one point, in the story I how and when the to storylines would merge, but I loved the lightbulb moment! I am so glad I found this one in Kindle Unlimited with the audio included. The narrator does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life. A very happy reader and listener!

United States on Jan 07, 2024

Nino: What an amazing ride. I read it in 24 hours, I just couldn't put it down and wanted to know how it ended

France on Jul 05, 2023

Lis Vaessen-Özönder: This book is something different! This was the first book by this author that I've ever read and I think it is even better than her book Where the Forest Meets the Stars.
This book has a very painful story, not only about abduction but also relationships and guilt... on the other hand a very deep love story... it is beautifully written.
I could not put it down and neither could my mother, to whom I lent this book.
Absolutely one to read!
For me it comes a little close to books in the category of Where the Crawdads Sing (one of my favourite books!)

Netherlands on Feb 07, 2023

Susan's Reviews: Picture this: Scene 1: Ellis watches distractedly as her twin sons are catching tadpoles from the river that runs through Wild Wood - a forested area close to the trailer park she had grown up in. Her newborn daughter, Viola, lies tranquilly in her child carrier. This forest had always soothed Ellis's aching spirit and had been her only refuge during her often brutal childhood.

But for once, her idyllic surroundings could do nothing to assuage Ellis's roiling thoughts and anguished feelings of betrayal. She had just discovered that Jonah, her husband, was cheating on her with another woman - his tennis instructor, no less! How excruciatingly cliché.

The visit to the woods is destined to be a tragic disaster. Ellis's twin boys act up, the incessant call of a raven, and Ellis's own wrought emotions cause her to forget that she had put her baby daughter's car seat carrier onto the ground next to the van before dealing with one of her son's tantrums. Ellis is horrified when, a mile into the return trip home, she realizes she had left the baby behind. Her worst fears are realized when she speeds back to the river, only to find that the carrier, and her...

Canada on May 01, 2021

J. Lindner: This book had me hooked from about the second page. The author's ability to engage her reader through a series of events that no one should ever have to face was heart wrenching and made the reader feel the pain. I've read other authors who have this ability, which I say is unique to certain authors and this is what I appreciate about good books. Having said this, I truly felt at first this book was worthy of a five star rating. Even though I questioned my rating as the book progressed, I decided in the end the book won five stars on its full merits. But let me divulge some personal thoughts and peeves about the characters.

Warning: spoilers ahead.

The main character at the beginning of the book is Ellis, an upper middle class mom living what we believe is the upper middle class white version of the American dream. Then by the end of the first chapter her world suddenly implodes around her. The first section of the book tells of her anguish, the failure of her marriage, and her subsequent descent into alcohol and opiate abuse. This should actually resonate with many readers. We (the readers) are not really made aware of what she's looking...

United States on Apr 06, 2021