From a complicated Haitian life to heart surgery to homelessness, Cynthia Josaphat’s struggles to survive her new life in the United States seem endless.

After she’s taken from the only home she’s ever known by a domineering yet distant father, Cynthia’s life takes a sudden turn towards despair. Away from her mother for the first time, the Haitian teenager resolves to make the best of a difficult transition to America. Life in Haiti wasn’t perfect, but it was the only life she knew. Now, suddenly uprooted, Cynthia’s troubles have only just begun.

Learning a new language is the least of her worries. Cynthia’s father expects her to conform to an unrealistic set of demands, and when a cardiologist discovers a heart defect, she must navigate surgery and a hospital stay on her own. Soon, Cynthia finds herself homeless, and in an abusive relationship with a brutal man. Depression sets in, and in Cynthia’s culture, there’s no room for mental illness.

A tale of redemption. Somehow, Cynthia finds a way out of the darkness surrounding her and enrolls in college, but can she keep up with the other students who all seem to have it together? And when she loses the only source of unconditional love she’s ever known, can she fight her way back from the brink?

This book will:

Inspire you to never give up on your best life.

Help you understand the quagmire of depression.

Shed light on the struggles of an immigrant, alone in America.

If you liked It's OK That You're Not OK by Megan Devine or A Sky the Color of Chaos by M.J. Fievre, you’ll love Out of the Darkness: A Novel.

Grace Bjarnson