This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Debbie always knew she wanted to contribute to other people’s lives in a meaningful way. Little did she know that tragedy could hold a gift that would reveal her highest purpose. After losing her beloved son to mental illness and addiction, Debbie transformed her life by turning her pain into her purpose of helping other parents of teens and adults struggling with mental illness and/or addiction. Through finding her calling, she was able to find healing for herself.
Debbie’s story of love and loss includes raising three children as a single mom, her oldest son being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol, and losing him when he was twenty-six. She has been through challenges with her oldest son’s mental illness and addiction, and she supported him, fought for him, and loved him through his journey.
Throughout her journey, she sought to turn her pain into serving others. This motivated her to become a certified life and relationship coach from the Center for Strategic Intervention.. She is passionate about using what she learned in her training and her life experience to help parents of teen/adult children with mental illness and addiction reclaim peace and a loving relationship.
Debbie holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore School of Law and an LLM from the American University Washington College of Law. She has worked as an estates and trusts attorney and trust officer administering trusts and estates, including special needs trusts.
Reviewed by Rich Follett for Readers' Favorite
Finding Peace and Purpose Amidst the Tears: My Journey of the Love and Loss of My Son Through His Mental Illness and Addiction by Debbie Gail Zane is a heartrending, brutally honest, and tremendously selfless and compassionate chronicle of the author’s struggle to come to terms with the untimely death of her son Alex after a protracted battle with drug addiction and schizoaffective disorder. As we follow Debbie through her roller-coaster experience, essential concepts such as acceptance, forgiveness, and self-love figure significantly in the narrative, allowing us to experience her journey personally and with devastating but ultimately edifying intimacy.
This book is a powerful testimonial in support of the idea that those among us who suffer from the pain and isolation of incomprehensible loss are not alone. The message is both transformative and freeing and would stand alone as a compelling reason to read the book if not for the sterling quality of Debbie’s impassioned narrative, which scores direct hit upon direct hit emotionally and psychologically without ever indulging in the merest moment the noisome self-pity that mars many similar accounts.
Finding Peace and Purpose Amidst the Tears by Debbie Gail Zane does not offer any miracle solutions, easy fixes, or so much as a hint of much-sought-after resolution in the wake of unspeakable tragedy; rather, it provides the kind of unwavering honesty and courage that, against all odds, comforts and heals. Whether you are experiencing the pain of loss or trying to understand the pain of loved ones facing the journey, this book will surely prove to be a tremendous help and invaluable resource that you will return to time and time again for comfort and guidance.
