Out of the Dark

A beautifully rendered hero's journey and classic road trip story, Out of the Dark is one woman's passage from the known to the unknown as she drives not so much as away from, but into the embrace of, a painful reality that nothing could change. Told in prose as beautiful as sunlight in a dark Alaskan January that finally finds its way above the shadowy hills, Marian Elliott's third person memoir is a testament to the magnitude of love, the kindness of strangers, and the healing power of nature. -Sarah Birdsall, author of The Red Mitten, The Moonflower Route, and Wild Rivers, Wild Rose Marian Elliott's third person memoir, Out of the Dark, touchingly, and deftly, addresses the query: How did we get to this place and time in our lives? For the heroine, Jeanne, the road is sometimes pitted with obstacles but more often blessed with kindness; marred by delays yet propelled by good fortunate, tormented by lost but buoyed by love. Encompassing the entire narrative, from east to west to north, is the persuasive power of nature to restore and humble. Elliott's story is a beautifully written journey from sorrow to new beginnings. -Eric Wade, author of Squirrelland: Imagination and the Alaska Red Squirrel Marian Elliott's book, Out of the Dark, is a guide. It is a calm clear voice to accompany a survivor - for anyone who has been close to the stupefying loss of a child. The story is mostly a memoir but also a travelogue. There is wreckage. There is confrontation with meaninglessness. There is no promise of redemption. But finally, life among the living must be navigated in some way. Elliott journeys from New York through Canada and finally to Alaska. It is a narrative about living and a suggestion for the path to acceptance. -Lanning Russell, editor of Event Horizon and author of the blog Bumper Sticker Wisdom