A Light in Dark Places
In December, 2009, Susan Cox Powell was reported missing from her home in West Valley City, Utah. As law enforcement tried to piece together what had happened to Susan, her husband, Josh Powell, became the only person of interest in the case.
For Jennifer Graves, Josh’s sister, the nightmare started long before Susan’s disappearance. From her experiences growing up in the Powell family to the terrifying moment when she first started to believe her brother was a killer, she relied on her faith to stay strong. She devoted herself to the safety of Susan’s boys, Charlie and Braden, whom she hoped to be able to raise as her own. When the boys were murdered by their father in February, 2012, Jennifer was more than devastated, but she had to believe there was a reason for it all—including the deaths of her beloved nephews.
In A Light In Dark Places, Jennifer shares her struggles and her triumphs. In coming to terms with such tragedy she finally was able to embrace the truth that we all have the power to choose our own path—and there is always hope, no matter how dark things may seem.
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My review
I live in Utah, so I saw quite a bit of the Susan Powell case in passing. Soon after the horrifying conclusion, one of my critique partners, Emily Clawson, had a daunting new project: she was friend with Jennifer Graves, Josh Powell’s older sister, and Jennifer needed to tell her story—and she needed Emily’s help to do it.
For over a year, I caught snippets of the direction and message of this memoir. Finally this weekend I cleared out the time to sit down and read it Sunday afternoon. Even though I was familiar with the story and the premise of the memoir, I couldn’t put it down, and I finished the whole thing in one afternoon.
Although it deals with very dark and disturbing behaviors and the most difficult ordeal Jennifer has ever experienced, the book’s message of hope resounds loud and clear. The cover implies that Susan was a light in dark places, but I come away feeling like it’s really Jennifer who continues to fight, to try to cast light in dark places, who carries a message of hope for anyone trapped by a dark past.
(I received a copy of this book free for review, but I’d already purchased it at full price plus tax. What do you make of that, FTC?)
Jennifer Graves is the mother of 5 beautiful children, 2 girls and 3 boys. She and her husband have been happily married for 19 years and together have been active in their community and church.
Jennifer is the sister of Josh Powell who killed his 2 sons, Charlie and Braden, as well as himself in February of 2012, and is also believed to have killed his wife, Susan Cox Powell, in December of 2009.
She is the recipient of the 2013 ChainBreaker of the year Award, given for breaking the chain of abuse and violence in her family.
She enjoys homeschooling their children and mentoring in classes for the commonwealth school they attend. She also loves reading, playing card and board games, and learning new things. Most of all she loves to spend time with her husband and children. They currently reside in West Jordan, UT.
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Emily Clawson is an author, a mother and a mentor. She traditionally writes inspirational fiction. This book has been a life changing experience for her and she is grateful to have been a part of telling this story. She resides in Taylorsville with her husband and four children where they run their leadership mentoring programs for youth.
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)—but what about a book with good characters or plot or voice, but poor mechanics? 
