Crossing the River Sorrow: One Nurse's Story

Richards spent most of her life working as a nurse in various hospitals%E2%80%94an experience that showed her the best and worst of humanity, as well as the fragility of life. Additionally, one of her children suffered from significant health problems. Richards was constantly confronted by death and dying and spent years feeling numb, refusing to emotionally engage or accept the reality of her spiritual starvation. But when she began doing volunteer work with Joni and Friends, a Christian ministry devoted to helping the disabled, Richards came to terms with her spirituality, found God, and discovered the emotions she%E2%80%99d buried for years. Richards%E2%80%99s memoir is engaging but uneven. The author jumps between different parts of her story in a manner that can be confusing, while the crux of the story%E2%80%94her conversion to Christianity%E2%80%94is told in a way that feels like an afterthought. Richards also glosses over the emotional difficulties that made her job and life challenging, and because of this, readers%E2%80%94many of whom will see themselves in the author%E2%80%99s struggles%E2%80%94will never fully understand the intricacies of her remarkable story.