Reading: Rachel Carter & Sarah Coomber

Annie Bloom’s welcomes Northwest authors Rachel Carter & Sarah Coomber.

How do you live when all you can feel is pain?

The best word to describe Rachel Carter’s life was “fearless.” She rode a motorcycle in high school, she worked in a cannery in Alaska at 20, and then backpacked solo through Europe. When she finally “settled down,” she married Josh and pursued a career in sales.

She lived a picture-perfect life—then Multiple Sclerosis caught up with her. After two years of rapid decline, Rachel found herself lying on the floor, writhing in agony, hoping to die.

In Enduring the Cure, Rachel Carter shares how she overcame her struggle with the debilitating disease. It’s a story of pain, decline, an experimental treatment, and healing.

But most of all, it’s a story of inspiration, determination, and hope for anyone who has suffered a debilitating disease or diagnosis.

In her memoir The Same Moon, recently wed–and quickly divorced–twenty-four-year-old Sarah Coomber escapes the disappointments of her Minnesota life for a job teaching English in Japan. Her plan is to use the year to reflect, heal and figure out what to do with her wrecked life while enjoying the culture of the country where she had previously spent a life-changing summer that included a romance with a young baseball player.

The reality?

Sarah finds herself the lone English speaker in an isolated rural area, where she is drawn into serving tea to her male coworkers, performing with a koto (zither) group, advocating for her female students and colleagues, and embarking on a controversial romance with a local salaryman.

This isn’t the Japan Sarah was seeking, but it just might be the Japan she needs.