Sarah Clarkson shares her journey dealing with mental illness in this beautiful, uplifting book. Highly recommend for anyone who loves beauty and truth.

"This Beautiful Truth" was a book that I was not expecting to need, but was so delighted to find. Clarkson has penned a triumph over darkness, and a hopeful tool for those who face the same fears and darkness in our lives that can only be dispelled by TRUTH. I am so thankful for the opportunity to read and review this book with the launch team, and this (along with the readers' guide) is a book that will stick with me for quite some time, and I'll recommend to others. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Beautifully-written memoir that's as vulnerable as it's instructive. Highly recommend to those who are creatives and to those who struggle with any kind of mental health challenges. There are some things re: the theology that I don't agree with but those weren't enough to keep me from recommending the book.

In This Beautiful Truth, Sarah Clarkson shares her own story with vulnerability and hope. Sarah’s own experiences are woven together with her theological studies and love of literature as she connects them all to knowing the joy and beauty of God. Her prose is beautifully descriptive and her message is encouraging. If you’ve ever found yourself overwhelmed by suffering, whether your own or that you see in the world, Sarah’s book reaches out like the words of a friend to point you to the beauty of God.

This Beautiful Truth by Sarah Clarkson is a magnificent book which explores the wonder of creation alongside the truth of beauty, in the midst of our own brokenness and pain. I've long admired any work from the Clarkson family and this did not disappoint.
The vulnerability put into this work is admirable, raw, honest, thought provoking.
This is a very different book than her former solo publishing endeavor, Book Girl. I really appreciated her musings, takeaways and thoughts on the books listed, and with that literary knowledge of her background and study, This Beautiful Truth did not disappoint.
In this book, Sarah is simply writing her story. What lovely snippets of her life, plagued by mental illness, truth behind it which we wouldn't know unless we are told of. It's a true reminder that looks are never as it truly is - there is more behind the photo and circumstance.
I saw so much of my own story within Sarah's, as I am sure many others can attest to. Although I realize that isn't the purpose of this book, as I read, it's to explore the real goodness of God amidst a broken world, riddled with pain and grief and mental illness. Naturally, when exploring these things, readers can see themselves and learn to put words to the pain and circumstance. I so appreciate this book for doing just that for me. Even when details may be different, the effects are similar if not the same.
The theology, rhythms, reflections, and background, raw, detailed histories of where she is in her place in life, all contribute to a powerful telling....Of the beauty of humanity and the powerful transformative power of love in the midst of our brokenness, of the wholeness in the broken, a picture of the God who reaches out to us "in a real and powerful way...taste and see goodness of what he has made and what he continues to create amid our darkness."
There is so much more to explore but please read it for yourself.
What a light in my days to read this gem. Thank you.
*I received an early copy courtesy of Baker Books and the launch team. Unfortunately, my review is quite late, as I wanted to wait to truly savor the work!

If you're worried this book is shallow, think again. This pouring out of Sarah's soul-learning is about clinging desperately to God and His truth, beauty, and goodness when everything in you says it's not worth it—even your own mind.

She takes us through the honest journey of her unusual form of OCD. While my own mental illness is anxiety and depression, the fighting of it is all too familiar. Her tribute to her mother Sally, who "believed for her" when she couldn't, was particularly poignant.

This book is about seeing what God has given us—in the world, in others, in small gifts and large ones—and how He shows us Himself through these things, even when we don't know how to see it.

It's deeply encouraging, wonderfully edifying, definitely a must-read for anyone suffering from mental illness or in a season of being a bruised reed in need of a vision for faith in what is True.

{I was provided an ARC by Baker Books. This title releases on June 8, 2021.}

_Book Girl_ was my first exposure to Clarkson, and I absolutely adored the read. So, I immediately jumped when I found out about _This Beautiful Truth_!

_This Beautiful Truth_ is truly a beautiful read, both in tone and message. Fellow fans of _Book Girl_ will love settling back in with Clarkson's winsome, eloquent writing style, ache with her as she shares of her mental-health and OCD struggles, and give glory to God for the myriad ways he surrounds us with Beauty with a capital B--starting with The Way, Christ. He is truly Beauty's source, creator, definer, originator.

Clarkson has walked many a dark day in her life, and I appreciated her frankness in sharing her story. It is real, raw ... and also hope-filled. Her journey encourages me to keep pushing on through my own (not nearly as) challenging times and looking for beauty amidst it all.

I particularly loved reading about her time in Oxford, one of my favorite towns in England and for many the same reasons as she has. I have a feeling we would get along smashingly. :)

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

My Thoughts:

I am a follower of Sarah Clarkson through her blog and Facebook. I have read her previous book, Book Girl. I pre-ordered This Beautiful Truth last fall. I have been anticipating her story. I am excited to share my thoughts with you.

Several reasons why I have given this book an excellent rating:
1. Sarah Clarkson has written the story of her life with transparency, insight, humility, patience, and grace.
2. Her writing style is prose like. It is beautiful, moving, and memorable.
3. I enjoyed reading about her favorite books and poems. Some of her favorites are Wendell Berry and J. R. R. Tolkien.
4. This Beautiful Truth is a book filled with quotes that speak to my heart.
5. Her mental illness is not one that I’ve heard of before. It is a rare form of OCD. I am thankful she has placed this illness in a position where others will read her story and have both knowledge and compassion.
6. This Beautiful Truth is a revealing of her OCD and its impact in her life. She wrestles with God and asks the questions: Why did this happen? How can God be at work in this illness? Is this apart of her identity? “Where does God dwell in the sorrow?” I am thankful she articulated these hard questions in the book; and added her thought process and revelations.
7. This Beautiful Truth is a revealing of how God has shown her more about Himself and His work in her life. Even during the dark moments of suffering God is with her. God fills her with the beauty of His creation, presence, and Word.

Format: My first copy of this book is an advanced reader e-book through NetGalley. I later purchased my own paperback copy.
Source: I received a complimentary e-book copy through NetGalley. I am not required to write a positive review.
Audience: Christian readers and followers of Sarah Clarkson. Readers of biographies of Christians who have a mental illness. The book is from a Christian perspective.
Rating: Excellent.

This Beautiful Truth is the book I didn’t know could exist. You know that feeling you get when you hear, smell, taste, or see something that wells up this overwhelming sense of nostalgia for the security of home (or whatever has made you feel secure in your past)? Or that feeling while watching a sunset, that vast hope? Or just that simple little lilt of an old song that passes through your mind as a distant memory when you are feeling trapped in darkness or when your world is quite literally crashing down around you? That feeling is what Sarah Clarkson is trying to describe in this book; at least that’s my sense of it. Throughout the book are also glimpses of her life; growing up, falling in love, moving overseas. It’s a thrilling read that brought tears to my eyes.
“…I believe we are mightily and achingly addressed by beauty. I believe God cries out to us in our grief in the potent language of image and experience, answering our pain not with the explanations we may crave but with an experience of his goodness so tangible that we know hope, not as a proposition we speak but a burning in the blood, a tingling of the skin.”
And in her true Book Girl form (Sarah wrote a book about wonderful books) she sprinkles quotes from literature throughout, for we are all story-formed.

I was fortunate enough to be a book launch supporter and have the opportunity to read This Beautiful Truth before its release. Sarah Clarkson did a phenomenal job of sharing her personal mental health story and shedding light on what others feel can only be a dark part of their lives. Through God's beauty, the beauty in the little things and the big things, the beauty all around us, we are given hope. I hope everyone takes the time to read this book and find comfort in the challenges of mental illness through the grace that only God can provide for us to give ourselves.

An honest, yet gentle look into the darkness that is part of this world and yet the hope and joy that Jesus brings to our everyday lives. This is a beautifully written memoir reminding us that God delights to draw us to Himself through the beauty of His creation. I loved that it has caused me to long to be extra aware of the details around me. What can seem mundane and ordinary requires only a change in perspective to realize its wonder! I want joy to continue to become an easier choice in my life day by day, and Ms Clarkson’s willingness to share her raw and tender experiences encouraged me as I read her story. (Of course it helped that I love her style of writing!) I recommend this one if you need a bit of reminding of the beauty that can come out of the ashes yourself.
**I received a copy via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Such a beautiful book by a beautiful soul! A deeply moving story about mental illness, beauty, and restoration. I have spent so much time after finishing pondering her words as they mark my soul.

This Beautiful Truth is a vulnerable and personal insight into mental health challenges. As Sarah Clarkson dives deep into dark places, she carefully constructs an awareness of The Beauty that has always been and always will be. Encouraging readers to look for beauty even in the face of doubt by sharing her own experiences gives credibility and legitimacy to her words.

On my wandering path of living outside the church, I find that I am eager to hear voices of imagination, clarity, and wisdom from within her walls. People who I can trust are attempting to live in an integral, albeit imperfect, way. People I admire for their creative gifts that shine just as brightly as those outside the fold. People who are not hiding their fire, their inner light, away for fear of offending the uptight and unimaginative within the fold.

Sarah Clarkson is one such example: a lovely voice of poetic, wild, imaginative, and artistic love for the world and for her Maker. Her new book, This Beautiful Truth, tells a tale that might seem surprising to followers of her blog and Instagram, to folks familiar with her exquisite portrayal of everyday life--the message of finding of beauty wherever one is.

In this book, she lays bare her soul and shares about her experience living with a rare form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder since she was quite young. She shares how she has related to God through it all, the seasons of anger and railing against, of grief and despair, and the times and places where beauty shines its golden hope through the darkness.

Sarah weaves in stories from her childhood to the recent past, told in her own delightfully vivid style. She tells of how she met her now-husband Thomas in Oxford and how love grew between them. (As an Anglophile, anything in an English setting thrills my heart.)

I appreciated her honesty and the depth of suffering she was willing to share with her readers. The messaging isn't "Become a Christian and everything in your life will get easier." Rather, through the appreciation of beauty in art, music, drama, literature, nature, and other people, she experienced, over and over, "the goodness of God in the land of the living". (Psalm 27:13)

She encourages us to cultivate a sense of wonder by creating, loving, discovering, and expressing beauty in our own way, in our own lives. To realize that the kingdom of heaven is here, inside of us, in our homes and in our hands, in the ordinary time and place in which we live. In each of our own stories we will receive grace and "beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning." (Isaiah 61:3).

If this message appeals to you, if you're a seeker, or a person of faith, I recommend Sarah's new book. I think it will be water to your soul.

Sarah Calrkson’s beautiful words in This Beautiful Truth are a glorious refreshment in the topic of suffering. This book, unlike others I’ve read on topic, offers the perspective of seeing beauty amongst pain. Sharing in her personal stories of mental illness Sarah walks the reader through how God uses not only Scripture, to remind her of His grace but, art, music, nature and literature to reflect his steadfast love as well.

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This Beautiful Truth: How God's Goodness Breaks into Our Darkness
tinuviel moore
4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Vulnerable and Beautifully Written Memoir
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2021
In Sarah Clarkson's latest book, This Beautiful Truth, she considers beauty as a means of grace, a gift from the God who loves and pursues broken souls. Specifically, she contemplates this theme as it applies to her own battle with an unusual form of the mental illness Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). With brave vulnerability and beautiful prose, she draws the reader into her journey through brokenness into a measure of healing, through doubt into restored faith. Story, art, music, liturgical worship, and unwavering acceptance from a few people in her life became in her pit of despair like the rags cushioning the ropes Ebed-melech used to draw Jeremiah out of the cistern in Jeremiah 38.

My favorite chapters were the final two.

I was intrigued and challenged by the idea in the penultimate chapter that poetic insight is a gift that carries with it an obligation to help others also see (like prophetic vision). “Every work of art reaches out across the centuries, and each is a vision that casts a flame into the darkness. The wonder is that one great light wakes another. The song of one wakens the story of another. The story she told becomes the poem he made that kindled the painting in yet another’s hands. Each is a work of obedience. No artist can cast their flame of vision without a twinge of fear that it will simply fade or even pass unseen. But each is also a work of generosity: precious, private worlds offered in a self-forgetfulness that pushes aside vanity, insecurity, and perfectionistic pride. [Denise] Levertov is right. The visions set forth in the books (and paintings and songs) we turn to for hope are offerings of love, given in the recognition that we truly are members of one another. We all bear the same hunger for eternity. We all walk forward in the dark of doubt, reaching for something we can’t quite name. We all walk blind and grieved in our suffering. We yearn to discover who we are meant to become, what it is we hunger to find in those midnight hours when our hearts will not be sated. But the artists and storytellers and makers of song offer the inner vision they have known as a sign of hope to the hungering world. They invite us into the sacred, inmost rooms of their minds and let us stand at the windows of their own imaginations where we glimpse, ah, wonders we might never have dreamed alone” (Kindle location 2355).

The story in the final chapter of her Tante Gwen and the life she crafted when a family need brought her home from the mission field moved me deeply. Sarah writes, “She taught me the pleasure of taking the spaces we have (not the ones we wish we had) and making them beautiful, for room by room she made that little old house the work of her artistry. I watched her design a stained-glass window and save for it for weeks. And plan a room of built-in bookshelves and oversee their building for months…. ‘I guess this is beauty enough for me,’ she said. And I think that was the orientation of her heart, to open herself so wholly to receive the goodness of God in whatever place she found herself that there was no such thing as limitation or lack. There was just her willing heart, sated by the beauty God gave. I know there must have been darkness—moments when her burdens must have weighed like lead upon her shoulders—yet those did not define her story” (Kindle location 2462).

The book as a whole showed me my own seasons of grief and depression in a different light and reminded me of how story, music, and photography have been means of grace to me.

The writing and depth of insight into her own harrowing illness and, through that, to other crucible experiences make this a worthwhile read. My one wish, perhaps reflective of my own theological niche, is that she included more about *the* Beautiful Truth of Scripture and the gospel fleshed out therein. Profound suffering can make God seem distant, even absent, to our souls, and that can shackle our ability to engage the Bible directly, soulfully, and personally. That said, all the beauties of art, music, creation, story, liturgy, and human love are but shadows of that truest beauty and most beautiful truth. In my opinion, the book would be even better with explicit consideration of that ultimate end. For me, that is the only aspect falling short of five stars. The craftsmanship is exquisite.

I would recommend this book to those interested in Christianity and the arts, to those touched by mental illness (as patients, family, or friends), to Christians suffering other kinds of "dark nights of the soul" that make the Bible feel like someone else's love letter, and of course to those who already appreciate Sarah's lovely words and photos on her Instagram feed (@sarahwanders) and previous books.

Providentially, similar themes surfaced in the latest episode (the one featuring Curt Thompson) of Sandra McCracken's Steadfast podcast. Listening to it was time well-spent, should you want additional discussion of the place of the arts in the Christian's mental health.

These thoughts are based on a free prerelease galley version I received.

DNF. Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

As a mental health provider I was curious to read this as I always like to have resources to point clients toward.

I could not get into this book for several reasons. The author’s overuse of the term “mental illness” which is not person-first and is derived from the medical model, and is not strengths-based. There are many alternatives to this term such as mental health experiences, person experiencing OCD.

On page 20, I found her use of the word “cripple” to not be a great choice of words as well.

I once heard the podcaster Anne Bogel say that a memoir written just because something interesting happened to a person isn't enough for her. Authors compose the best memoirs after they have had time to ruminate on their lives and extract meaning from them. As Kierkegaard said, "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."

In This Beautiful Truth, Sarah Clarkson shares her hard-won understanding of suffering and intersecting breakthroughs of God's beauty during her years walking with a rare form of OCD that onset when she was 17.

With delicate intimacy, Sarah intersperses an account of her seasons of despair and moments of joy with a defense of God's specific and personal goodness in the face of obvious evil.

I definitely plan to reread this book and share it with a number of friends who struggle with mental illness.

I received an advance copy of this book from Baker Books for review.

“Beauty and brokenness told me two different stories about the world. I believe that Beauty told true.”

There’s a song I keep on the bulletin board over my desk, one I heard years ago while visiting Christ Church Santa Fe that absolutely speaks to my soul: “Why Do We Hunger For Beauty?” The song doesn’t answer directly, but the answer is plainly there: Beauty is God’s doing. It’s reflected in nature, in art, in any good we encounter. Beauty is God, His calling to humanity. This book is that song in written form.

This Beautiful Truth is Sarah Clarkson’s candid journey with mental illness. The book “is a plea to present God as the healer and never the inflictor of our pain.” It’s gorgeously written and heartfelt. “God breaks into our pain in a tangible way,” Sarah says, “teaching us to trust His love and to hope for His healing. Beauty is a voice singing into our suffering, beckoning us toward restoration.”

This book is deserving of all the stars. It is a memoir and yet at the same time, much more. Sarah Clarkson brings light to a dark part of her life and shows others how she found and continues to find healing through God's goodness as seen in his beautiful creations. Her courage in telling her story will help many others.

I have always been fascinated by her ability to write so eloquently about the intersection between literature, the arts and theology. This book explores these themes as well.

Thank you to NetGalley, Baker Books and Sarah Clarkson for the complimentary ebook. It was wonderful to get to read this early so that I can tell others about it. Make sure to get a copy of This Beautiful Truth when it is published on June 8.