Night Driving: A Story of Faith in the Dark

Blogger Zierman (When We Were on Fire) boldly reveals her struggles with faith, isolation, and depression in this memoir about packing up her minivan and taking her children on a two-week road trip from Minnesota to Florida. Having lost her connection to her Christian faith, Zierman decides to outdrive her troubles by visiting friends, giving book readings, and doing publicity interviews. The writing can be insightful and painful to read%E2%80%94"Imagine opening your Bible and finding it to be a concrete slab in your lap"%E2%80%94as her struggle to avoid internal darkness seems to permeate all her thoughts. These same obstacles make the memoir relatable, though, as she must balance her own internal turmoil with the needs of her children. At times, Zierman's attempts to wring drama from the mundane events of a well-planned publicity trip read as overwrought%E2%80%94as when she frequently alludes to her "complicated history" with men, then describes a visit with an old flirtation that remains platonic as "a victory over the flesh"%E2%80%94but the main story here is her renewed search for faith, not the promotion tour. Zierman's trip down South and back into the light, filled with refreshing, life-affirming moments, will satisfy readers looking for a partner in spiritual strife. (Mar.)