Zoba, a senior writer for Christianity Today
, tells of falling into an emotional abyss and slowly, painfully, finding her way out. She and her pastor-husband divorced, her boys all left the nest for school or work, friends abandoned her, she had gallbladder surgery and she was in a car accident. This "devastating season threw into chaos everything" that had undergirded Zoba's life and faith and sent her into a months-long period she describes as "the Dark Night," echoing St. John of the Cross's "dark night of the soul." While Zoba recounts tangible steps in her journey to healing (relocating to North Carolina, building a house, traveling for work), the bulk of her narrative focuses on the less tangible emotional journey, which her insightful writing clearly captures. Her months of seemingly fruitless prayer (daily, sometimes nose to the carpet) were followed by small signs of hope and—eventually—painstaking progress. Zoba experienced an emotional miracle on a pilgrimage to Assisi, a spiritual shift that gave her the assurance to move forward again with complete abandonment to God. Those who have had trouble finding God in the midst of great loss will be comforted to find a companion in Zoba, and will cherish her literary map to "the Dark Night." (Oct.)
