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  • Where the Light Fell

  • A Memoir
  • By: Philip Yancey
  • Narrated by: Philip Yancey
  • Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (34 ratings)

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Where the Light Fell

By: Philip Yancey
Narrated by: Philip Yancey
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Publisher's Summary

Not until college days do I discover the shocking secret of my father's death.

With a journalist's background, Philip Yancey is widely admired for taking on the more difficult and confusing aspects of faith. Now, in Where the Light Fell, he shares, for the first time, the painful details of his own origins - taking us on an evocative journey from the backwoods and Bible-belt pockets of the South to the bustling streets of Philadelphia: from trailer parks to church parking lots, from dark secrets and family oddballs to fire-and-brimstone preachers and interminable church services. Raised by their impoverished single mother, Philip and his brother, Marshall, struggle to comprehend her speeches about their dead father, an Old Testament Bible story, and sons sacrificed for a divine cause.

This coming-of-age story is a slice of life, both intensely personal and broadly resonant, set against a turbulent time in post-WWII American history shaped by the racism and paranoia of fundamentalist Christianity and reshaped by the mounting pressures of the civil rights movement and '60s-era forces of social change. An unforgettable listen, it is at once hugely funny, deeply disturbing and achingly poignant. A testament to the power of the human spirit, Where the Light Fell illuminates Yancey's ability to bring comfort to those bruised by the church, and hope to those who can't imagine ever finding a healthy faith.

©2021 Philip Yancey (P)2021 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

What listeners say about Where the Light Fell

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Real and raw

I absolutely loved it and was spellbound by the narrative and by the narration.

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Truthfulness and vulnerability

This is a story of “all things work together for good” a valuable insight into the mismatches and difficulties of a life, moments that God can use to shape us, should we allow. Beautifully written. Thank you Philip for having the heart (courage) to write it!

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Honest and reflective

I love the reality of living flawed people and within a Christian subset; it is particularly resonant. As an outsider, coming in, I’ve felt sadness at my past and distress but to know there are brothers and sisters who have similar even if not the same issues - well his words were the shape of my wound. Soulful reading.

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Where the light fell

Thank you again Philip Yancey.
A spell binding book.
Your life is all about Grace, the undeserved Grace we all can have through Jesus. Even when life seems unfair and complicated.
Thank you.

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Honest and revealing memoir

This fascinating memoir touched my heart. A behind-the-scenes look at the life of such an influential Christian author.

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Candid and beautifully narrated

I’ll put this great memoir up for book if the year in early January 2022.

No spoilers but it is candid, raw, thoughtful , emotionally intelligent memoir of a rabidly fundamentalist family particularly set in 1940’s - 60’s.

Philip reads his memoir with a lot of variation in tone and accent. It gives an extra dimension. 10/10 from me.

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Thoughtful and honest

I appreciated this book and the struggle that the Yancey family have gone through. I love how his faith walk is realistic and not sugar coated, and as such is so authentic. Great read.

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What an amazing story of God never letting go.

Fantastic read. I could relate to so many of the fundamental church rules and how you realise what grace is once you are out of it.

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Yancey has quite a story

I think anyone who grew up in a Fundamentalist Evangelical home or church should listen to Yancey's story and reflect on their own. Hopefully they might find hope and light in his story and it might help them also reflect and better understand their own too.

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