I will be pondering this book for many days. Philip Yancey calls this a prequel to his other books. The formative years he describes explain an adult lifetime of writing about pain and grace. His family, like all families, has a generational legacy of dysfunction. But Yancy's family dysfunction is combined with legalistic religiosity, the social dysfunction of the 1950's South, and the profound personal tragedy of losing a father. Yet a thread of grace runs through the story. Yancey's relationsh...

I couldn't put this book down... I completely let my kids play screens so I could finish it. :) If this had been on audio, my house would be clean. Yancey's an incredible writer and his story gripping. While it's full of difficult people and situations, God's grace shines through and it's lovely.

This book was not on my radar until I received a marketing email from Random House inviting me to read the book- because I had liked the book Educated by Tara Westover. Philip Yancey has been a writer of religious themed books for decades, but this one is a true memoir of his upbringing. His parents were southern fundamentalists from Atlanta, Georgia who planned on being missionaries to Africa. But after having two sons (Marshall and Philip), the father died from polio at the age of 24. He had b...

In this very personal memoir, Philip Yancey describes his life journey from his fundamentalist Christian upbringing to the life he leads now as a celebrated Christian writer. He talks freely of his dysfunctional family and his, what I would call abusive, upbringing by his religious zealot mother. He discusses in great detail his questions regarding his faith and his struggles between his religious upbringing and the outside world at large.The writing is extremely engaging and I was able to relat...

I have read all of Philip Yancey's books over the last 20 years and consider him the best theological writer since C S Lewis. His books are readable and full of grace. Yancey always writes from personal experience. This memoir shines new light on all of his writings. Yancey's father died when he was a child because his parents chose to trust that God would heal his polio rather than leave him in an iron lung. His mother dedicated both of her sons to the Lord and was determined that they would be...

I read this book because it was on some “best books of 2021” reading lists. This book was really a rant about his family and legalistic Christian upbringing; basically a Christianized version of Hillbilly Elegy, but Hillbilly Elegy did it better (with more language of course.) Leaves you feeling uneasy because there’s little hope ever mentioned by the author (who is known for writing on grace!) If Yancey is going to go on for hours about how he was mistreated (and I agree he had a rough childhoo...

Summary: A memoir of coming out of a fundamentalist, racist, and abusive upbringing. One reviewer described this as a prequel to his other books on grace and suffering.  There are few names in Christian publishing that are more recognizable than Philip Yancey. He started his career writing for Campus Life and Christianity Today but became widely known for his books, most reflections on suffering and/or grace. Yancey has written about 30 books, depending on how you count books he contributed t

Where the Light Fell by Philip Yancey is probably the best book I’ve read so far this year. It was achingly honest; a bird’s eye view of his strict fundamentalist Christian upbringing. Philip and his brother, Marshall, suffered through their childhood in the face of a graceless, strict, verbally abusive mother and churches that preached hellfire and obedience at all costs. The result was a definite cost in Philip and Marshall’s lives. They experienced a crushing pressure to be perfect. Philip re...

When I opened my advanced copy of Where the Light Fell, I couldn’t put it down. The lyrical stories lifted me off the page, moving me swiftly from one scene to another. I traveled back in time to Philip Yancey’s childhood and teen years. I winced at his pain and celebrated his achievements. Some of his tragic experiences appear impossible to reconcile with the presence of a good and loving God. And yet, much like the Japanese art of Kintsugi – in which broken pottery is mended with seams of gold...

I really appreciated this book. Although Yancy is more of my parents' generation, I could relate to his recounting of his childhood in Christian fundamentalism. I love how Yancy has processed his upbringing and how he has held on to what was good and true but also confronted and called out the things that were wrong and misrepresented true Christianity and the teachings of Jesus. This is my first Philip Yancy book, but won't be my last.

This is my first time in the page of a Philip Yancey book, and I found the writing so smooth and natural that I was drawn right in. This memoir explores the author’s personal life of hurt and suffering—but also what led him to grace. Recommended! *I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I read What's So Amazing About Grace?] decades ago and it impacted me greatly. After reading Yancey’s memoir Where The Light Fell, I now understand why the impact was so great: he writes from experience- his own dramatic, personal experiences with GRACE. I am thwarted from sharing profound highlights; per publisher request, reviews and quotes from the book are not to be published by reviewers until after the book’s October publication date. Mr. Yancey addresses a broad range of people and I high...

I could hardly put this book down. I’ve read maybe one and a half of Yancey’s previous books, but after hearing an interview about his memoir I was intrigued. Sometimes you wonder if all the best parts were in the interview, but in this instance the book was even better than I had hoped. There is some mature content in the last third of the book, but Yancey seeks to tell his whole story and the story of his family with honesty and candor. I’m grateful he told his story and hope it helps many oth...

First sentence: Not until college do I discover the secret of my father’s death. My girlfriend, who will later become my wife, is making her first visit to my home city of Atlanta, in early 1968. The two of us stop by my grandparents’ house with my mother, have a snack, and retire to the living room.Where The Light Fell is Philip Yancey's memoir. After reading it, it clarifies why his books are almost always touching on two subjects: PAIN and GRACE. For the record, I don't think I've read any of...

We live day by day, scene by scene, as if working on a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle with no picture on the box to guide us. Only over time does a meaningful pattern emerge. (298)I've never read Philip Yancey's books, but Where the Light Fell immediately attracted my attention because I love a good spiritual memoir. Yancey grew up in Atlanta in independent fundamentalist Baptist churches, known for their separatism from the rest of Christianity. His mother and brother are powerful figures in this...

A searingly honest memoir about growing up within a fundamentalist Christian community in the south with an emotionally abusive mother and a brother who was brilliant but damaged. Yancey was raised a racist and he addresses that unflinchingly. His honesty about his shortcomings and poor choices is humble and illuminating. Anyone who has been raised in a religious family will be able to relate to a lot of things Yancey had to deal with, but his own experiences are pretty unique and make for absor...

My first Philip Yancy book. A profound and enlightening memoir that had the inspirational side benefit of re-examination of my own faith.

Through the first few chapters of this memoir, I worried that I was reading another Educated -- brutal for the sake of being brutal. But Philip Yancey's tumultuous upbringing set the stage for a life lived in pursuit of God despite the pain and temptation the world inflicts. This respected Christian author tells the story of his fundamentalist Southern background and broken family in a way that's both honest and compassionate. I've never read any of his other work, and I think I need to fix that...

Yancey's mom said she hadn't sinned in twelve years. She dedicated him and his brother to God, to be missionaries to Africa in the place of their father, who died from polio before he reached the mission field. Their father didn't just die from polio—he died after he had himself removed from the iron lung because he believed the prayers of his supporters couldn't fail. What do you do with an upbringing like that, raised in trailer parks, schooled at churches which preach that the "mark of Cain"

Beautiful, gut wrenching, and ultimately hopeful. Yancey details his childhood in an extreme version of Southern fundamentalism— a church context I’d describe as spiritually abusive, or close to it. Parts of it are brutal, yet never really surprising: I thought a lot about how fundamentalism continues to shape American politics, culture, even my own denomination, and how little its had to change. This is basically a deconstruction story, but in the best and most beautiful way. Yancey jettisons t...