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Carole Duff
Author
Wisdom Builds Her House
Carole Duff, author
Wisdom Builds Her House is the true story of a woman who comes face-to-face with her past when she reads the journal of her husband’s deceased daughter, a girl she never met. Curiosity leads to self-inquiry and haunting parallels between Carole and Gretchen: inexplicable disruptions from when they were five, mental illness episodes starting at sixteen, troubles in college, rejection in love—secrets hiding in their closets. While building a new house in the Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband, Carole reads the journals, which lead her to uncover the never-spoken truth about the violent crime from her childhood, all resulting in a crisis of faith.
Reviews
In this heart-wrenching debut, Duff reflects on her own traumatic childhood while reading through her husband’s deceased daughter Gretchen’s journals, drawing multiple parallels between the two lives and discovering “not so much safety but freedom. Freedom from fear” in the process. Gretchen, who died by suicide at 24 years old, whispers strange similarities to Duff through her writing: both women are fueled by regret, driven by feelings of inadequacy, and haunted by their pasts. The journal entries are emotive, allowing Duff to sift through her own memories, some of which are repressed, and lean on her faith while working to uncover her long-buried family secrets.

Duff's writing is intimate and reverent as she examines Gretchen's secret truths—and her own. "Perhaps by reading Gretchen’s journals and delving into the past, I would find what I longed for,” Duff proclaims, and, once she decides to embark on the emotionally taxing journey of reading Gretchen's left-behind words, that wish comes true. She reflects on unfathomable, violent trauma from her childhood and its connection to her relationship with her husband, adult children, and her parents, linking her need for self-discovery and healing to the past’s shrouded secrets, while pressing into her unwavering faith to finally make peace and settle into a place she can truly call home.

"Gretchen scared me because her honesty exposed my dishonesty," Duff writes, and the memoir brims with her realizations that moving forward often hinges on digging into the past. Her efforts, though painful, are rewarded, as she comes to terms with the darkness and emerges stronger on the other side. These powerful parallel stories are captivating—and at times emotionally devastating—as Duff sludges through understanding, acceptance, and letting go. “Asking questions—doubting if you will—is part of the mysterious process of bringing truth to light,” she observes—powerful parting words that will linger in readers’ minds.

Takeaway: Emotional memoir examining mental illness, faith, and repressed family secrets.

Comparable Titles: Amanda Stern's Little Panic, Meg Kissinger's While You Were Out.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

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