In the Shadow of Many

By Linda W

This is a book about my life that began in a dysfunctional family. I feel it's time to have the conversation about how to look at this differently. This is not a book simply about trauma, but how we end this cycle of abuse. It all started with me trying to repair a broken family. A story about love and forgiveness, about putting away judgement and seeing a fuller picture of our families, warts and all. To shine a light and finally heal what ails us.

My brother and I lived through Hell and abuse. I turned to addiction until I had a nervous breakdown when I was nineteen years old. I was forced to make a decision; change or die. I didn't have the heart to kill myself, but I heard it said that we'll change when our last resort seems like a good idea, and my last resort was change. But I had to do something because I was so broken and my life was so out of control that I had to find a different way of looking at the world. I start with my experience, so you understand that I mean it when I say, I understand your pain.

I have over thirty fife years of being clean and sober, have read countless self-help books, been to seminars, and therapy. I found many things that explained what I could not, and I found a sense of something Greater than Myself. I tried anything to feel more at peace with me. I can't tell you how to do it, only to support you in your efforts. I'm not a professional but at the beginnings of Alcoholics Anonymous it was becoming understood that only an alcoholic could help another alcoholic, I'm saying only a broken person can help another broken person find genuine peace in your heart. Only you can fix it but know you're not alone.

My hope is to help as many people as I can before I leave this world. I have a lot of wisdom to give but the only way I know how to express it is through my words. I have all the needed permissions from the Anonymous books I quote, it's been professionally edited, and I am only writing in my first name, so you don't look at my life as you read this, but your own. It's not about me but about us all. This is my first book, but I have many in my head. Many things I would like to share to bring us to peace and happiness, something I never thought I'd have. I found a person that loves me for who I am, and we've been together for close to thirty years, I have found peace and happiness, I have repaired relationships, and I only want to share with you how I did that.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H8QHL6P8
• ISBN13: 9798234124609
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Larlin Publishing
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"