Redeemed: A Spiritual Misfit Stumbles Toward God, Marginal Sanity, and the Peace That Passes All Understanding

by Heather King

Book Overview

An NPR commentator’s story of an unlikely epiphany and the healing power of faith After years of sleeping around, working as a waitress, and suffering booze- induced blackouts, Heather King settled into sobriety, marriage, and a financially lucrative but unfulfilling career in a Beverly Hills law firm. As someone who had reached middle age “never believing in much of anything,” she found herself in the last place she thought she’d end up: the Catholic...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670018635
• ISBN13: 9780670018635
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

The Passion of the Author

I loved King's first book, Parched, which documented her upbringing in a puritanical New England town, her young adult descent into alcoholism, and her struggle back to the light - literally, because this woman spent serious time in some of the darkest dives in Boston. Sounds depressing, but it isn't, because King's writing is filled with a rare hilarity and humility that make the book a joy to read. In Redeemed, the reader gets to join King as she relocates to Los Angeles, specifically Koreatown, about as far as she could get from those cold and austere beginnings. As she struggles to make sense of her life, her career (a lawyer!), her marriage, and her physical and mental health, she finds a faith that grips her - and the reader - to the core. The contrast is both obvious and profound between the empty cross of her childhood church and the Catholic depiction of Christ on the cross, with wounded suffering on full display. Here King finds her home and her salvation, and we are all richer for sharing the ride. Highly recommended.

Not your typical book about God

I think what makes this book such a rare gem is that it almost seems like two completely different types of books, or genres, eloquently and unapologetically mixed into one. Most simply put it is a women's story of the almost accidental discovery of her faith or relationship with God. However, it is such an honest and hilarious account of her journey that you find yourself routing for her the way you do some kind of great anti-hero protagonist from your favorite novel instead of just reading a memoir. Most spiritual books take themselves seriously, but when Heather King finds God (and naturally herself as well in the process) she finds him while making dry, witty, sarcastic remarks under her breath. She not only admits to being lost but celebrates it with grace in a way that only someone who has done their spiritual homework can. Long story short, it's just as funny and serious and engrossing as the last best novel you read, but when you finish it the book sticks with you and as a result, your own faith that maybe there is hope for the rest of us is restored a little.

A Fallen Catholic Finds Redemption Anyway

Something all lapsed Catholics love to do at any opportunity is to slam the church, and anything dimly related to it. We have a kind of secret club.....and anyone can belong..... particularly if you went to Catholic school and ever had a nun or priest smack you or send you to the 'cloak room' to sit out a punishment for some trivial childhood offense. So it was with hesitation that I started reading Heather King's new book 'Redeemed'. I'd loved 'Parched', and consider her a brilliant writer, but this was going a bit far. Clearly this new book wouldn't contain the zany antics of a drunk Heather King, clawing her way through a haze of booze-soaked misadventures to ultimately sober up and become the funny sensitive woman I came to love in the first book. I must say though, this book is probably the only secular religious tome ever written. I don't know how King managed to convince me so gracefully that she had found in Catholicism another level of spiritual peace very much like her previous miracle of sobriety. I guess that's what really grabbed me about this book. It's all about miracles. Now, THERE'S something I can sink my teeth into! Catholic, Jew, Hindu, Atheist, Anyone....will relate to this very human phenonenon of finding something larger than themselves to lend purpose and freedom to a life that would be rather empty without it. Loved the book....you will too.

Delightful Writing, Fun, and (Almost) Made Me Want to Go Back to Church Too!

***** I truly loved Heather King's new book, which was fun, funny, and touching all at the same time. I haven't been back to church in years but it made me want to go too. Just to experience community the way the author does, imperfectly, struggling, with love and humor and authenticity all bundled up together. This book is also about being a writer, an alcoholic, and a human being. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. I would especially recommend it to those readers who are looking to have a less negative view of Christianity (this is me) and who want to read about faith from a gritty, grounded, and grace-based perspective. It made me laugh and the beauty of the writing had me highlighting passages to refer back to later. It's an honest and real book about just being alive. Highly recommended. *****

Lapsed Catholic, and I love this book...

I read REDEEMED all the way home on a flight from Alabama, and it was a book I hated to see end...I could pick it up and read it all over again. Reading Heather King's words is like having coffee with a best friend who listens, makes you laugh, think, and hope again. Her honesty is real and alive - and so her is capacity for joy and forgiveness. Her words make a person want to be better - to live better and more fully. I cannot recommend REDEEMED highly enough. It is a beautiful beautiful book of honesty and painful hilarity from husbands to sisters to awful people at work. It's just great. It even makes me want to forgive my idiot neighbor and his barking dogs and maybe even go back to church. I am very grateful that Heather King's books are in the world.