The Burning Within

by RaNelle Wallace, Curtis Taylor

True story of a couple returning home after an unsuccessful vacation to revive their marriage, their plane crash, their rescue, survival, recovery, and coping with life after severe burns and disfiguration. Adding to this tragedy was a woman's disregard for the warnings and strong premonitions of what was to come. That burning within all of us. Also a very compelling near death experience and confirmation of life after death beliefs that people of every religion can relate to.

Genres: Nonfiction, Book Club, Biography, Religion, Lds, Biography Memoir, Lds Non Fiction

342 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1994

Reviews

[Mischenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

RaNelle Wallace is married with two kids and wants to revive her marriage with her husband Terry. They decide to take a trip to Utah to see if it might be a good place to move the family, but RaNelle has a premonition that she really shouldn’t be going. She knows she needs to do this for her kids, but something is telling her not to go, otherwise something dreadful is going to happen. She decides to go ahead and take the trip, but when it’s time to come home, she tells her husband that the weather is too bad to fly their plane. Rather than listen to RaNelle, he tells her they must get home and flying is the only way. She heeds his advice and they leave, but not long after, they hit a horrible storm and can’t see where they’re flying, how far from the ground they are, and on top of that, the door to the plane isn’t closing properly. It’s a nightmare scenario and RaNelle begins to pray to God for help. She prays that if God will just get her out of this dangerous predicament and bring her back down to the ground, she’ll always listen to him and never ignore his warnings again. The events that happen afterward are a miracle.

I picked up this book after learning of RaNelle’s story and her near death experience online. I’ve always had an interest in NDE’s and wanted to hear what her experience was like. I was shocked how different her experience was from many of the others I have read, yet it was alike in a few ways as well. I didn’t find her NDE as compelling as some of the others, yet it was interesting and the experiences she had made sense to me. She had incredible courage and perseverance to go through what she did. She turned her life around, giving herself to community service, which is nothing short of astounding to me. Some of the things that happen while RaNelle is here on Earth are nearly unbelievable. Her husband Terry had an experience of his own, but the book only touches on it.

I’m happy to have read the book. It’s written well and at times I couldn’t put it down. I liked that photographs were included, including photos of the plane and their family. With that said, some parts were horrific for me because of everything RaNelle went through. I found myself cringing more than once and wanted to put the book down because I just couldn’t deal with the pain she was enduring, but overall, the book was great.

5*****

You can see this review@ https://readrantrockandroll.com/2018/...

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Drove me nuts! Memoir of RaNelle Wallace, a small plane crash and burn victim survivor. She shares her experience of doing down in the plane, the physical trauma she endured, spiritual battles, and out of body experience. (She is LDS)

There were things I learned from this book, but it mostly just annoyed me. She was so irresponsible!!!

---She had numerous promptings and warnings not to fly - she did anyways. In fact, the day before the crash they almost crashed and she prayed and promised she wouldn't get in a plane again...they were saved...she flew again...they crashed...she cursed God.

---She had two young children (ages 1 and 3) who she didn't seem to care about - she wrote her last will and testament and gave it to her mother who was babysitting the children because she felt like they would crash.

---Her and her husband had a terrible relationship. They went away on this trip to see if they could rekindle things, but decided they would divorce instead.

---They seemed so irresponsible with their finances. They owned a plane but didn't even have proper insurances! Not smart!

---They out of body experience was a little fishy to me. She pretty much took a tour of heaven with her grandmother. It was entertaining, but I'm just not quite sure things work that way.

Anyways, the book discusses how they try to repair their marriage, become good parents, etc. In the end, she says how happily married they are. But, I'm embarrassed to say I googled her and they ended up divorced! So, the accident she felt was to save her marriage, but then she ended up divorced so that ruined it for me EVEN MORE!

Anyways, if it was fictional it wouldn't have been *that* bad, but knowing she was a real person who made crazy mistakes and nothing really that good came from it....disappointing.

[Robyn Crystal Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly inspiring book. I was talking with my friend, Inge, who suggested it and I picked it up the next day at the library; I could not put it down. Ranelle is the survivor of a small plane crash, but when she tried to open the door to exit the plane, there was a backdraft and she caught on fire. She tells the story of her "survival" and her "death". Her outlook on life changes after the crash and recovery; which includes 6 weeks in the burn unit. She is inspirational woman. One cannot read this book without feeling touched by a higher power...it will change how you look at life! **spoiler**: (may be for some) graphic detail of what her body/skin was doing while on fire...and while in the ER and ICU.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was lent to me from someone who loves to read things from people who have died and come back. I was not so excited to read it at first but I found that the main focus was not about her experience beyone the veil but about her own tranformation when faced with a horrific accident, her physical debilitations from it and her ability to mend her failing marraige through it all. I appreciated her growth through her trials and seeing first hand how to become better instead of bitter despite what life brings.

[Alli Elggren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for Book Club, October, 2012. It was a quick read and I would absolutely recommend this book. It's about plane crash survivor and burn victim RaNelle Wallace. Reading about RaNell's experience was both agonizing and inspiring. I read several parts aloud to my husband as I was reading because I couldn't wait to share it with someone. I wish I would've written a review when the book was fresh in my mind, but today I came across an iPhone picture I took of my favorite page and nothing summarizes it better:

"Normal meant they all had scars and regrets; they all had crashed one time or another. I wouldn't kid myself about this; everybody suffers, everybody fails. The world is a big place, and being normal means different things to different people. But I wouldn't strive to be normal anymore; I would stive to be happy through loving and sharing honestly. We either follow the thing that gives us happiness and peace, or we suffer..... It's frightening how weak we can be, how prone to error. It can almost make us give up. Almost."

[Alissa Faust · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting life-after-death experience written by Ranelle Wallace after being burned nearly to death in an airplane accident. There were some interesting things that I have thought about quite a bit after reading this: She saw how her life effected others. She saw how she had been chosen to be a special friend to certain people before her life on earth and how her poor choices made it so she was not able to help those friends as much as she could have. She had her life play out before her but the things that she dreaded seeing again the most weren't there as she had repented of them. I thought that was a really great representation of how repentance works. I definitely makes me want to watch my relationships with others more carefully and check myself on the type of example that I am setting to others to fulfill all the commitments I made before this life.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are very few books that I actually read more than once and this one is it.

This book is about a lady who is critically burned in an airplane crash. She talks about her experience, promptings to go on that particular flight, her recovery and her near death experiences.

Out of all the near death experiences I have read, her's seemed the most realistic to me. Her description didn't seem too weird and what she was taught while on the other side seemed to make sense as well. Her grandmother appears to her during her near death experience and what she tells her seems to fit right in with Christ's teachings.

[Sharlitas · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing story. It made me realize that no matter what kinds of hardships you may have in life, someone always has it worse, so be grateful for the lot you have. It had some too-graphic details in some of the descriptions of her burns, but then I guess that just made it more impactful. I want to reread the part about her psuedo-death again and really try to milk out all its worth and insight. Also, she showed such incredible courage at the end of the story. Great, great read. I definitely recommend it.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what an awe inspiring and gripping story. I couldn't put the book down and once I did, I felt a longing to be better and to strive to do more in my life!

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

How interesting I thought that I read this book on October 9, the day of her plane crash exactly 23 years ago. When she was visiting the spirit world, I myself was only 2 months away from coming to earth and beginning my journey here...
I loved this book, and since I finished it only a couple hours ago, the things I have read are still running through my mind...
I have learned a lot, too much to put into my review here.
I think everyone needs to read this book, it surely has changed my way of thinking about trials and problems...
I was fascinated while she told the story of her surviving the crash and the affects it had on her life... My hat goes off to this amazing woman for enduring such physical pain...
I hope to remain as I do now, grateful to be me, and feeling so blessed not having to go through that kind of pain as the burns... It was hard for me to read, can't imagine living through it! Yet she even stated how easy it is to fall into the negative thinking and forgetting, after having been shown another way of thinking with her near-death experience, so maybe if I read this review often, it can help me to remember how well I have it in comparison, especially in the feel-sorry-for-myself moments in life...
My life will be forever changed and hopefully I can do my part well enough, whatever it may be that is my own personal piece to the big puzzle of life we all fit in somewhere...

[Jada W · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me 2 weeks to finish.
A girl Ranelle is going to go fly to salt lake with her husband, but she keeps getting a feeling not to go, but she still goes after a lot of warnings and is a little worried. When they fly they get in a crash and it starts a fire, it burns her and her husband really bad. They get out and hike down the mountain, they try to find someone to help them, later a car pulls up and takes them to the hospital. Ranelle suffers with burns all over her body and struggles to survive, and she learns great life lesson along the way.
Ranelle is really like the only main character in the story, she changed at the end of the story by realizing she is not the only one suffering, and that there are lots of people in the world maybe suffering more than her. Also that she can help those that is struggling at the moment. She finds she does not need to worry about just herself. She can worry about others to.
In my opinion I really liked the book because it is a true story and I think is is cool how she survived. Also how she learned things along the way of her trials. Not only that they put a lot of detail in the story to make us feel like we know every detail. It also reminds me to help others.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I had heard about this book from a friend and was told it was great. I was expecting a little more preaching in the book about how we should live our lives.... something that comes often with memoirs written by LDS members. I didn't see that at all. It was wonderfully written and I spent the majority of the time crying through it. I don't normally cry through books, but everytime I picked it up, I was crying and not in a bad way.

This was a fast read for me and one that I could put down. So, I spread it out over 2 night and maybe in total took me 4-5 hours to read. I do believe the most touching part of the book for me was her after-life experience, that she remembers in almost full detail. Everything is so beautiful the way she remembers it and it felt so right to me. She surely is an example on how we can al forget ourselves and focus on others, even with our own problems in the way. I would definately reccommend this book to everyone.

[T · Rating 2 out of 5]

A friend asked me to read this book and talk about it at her bookclub. She said I'd love it, but I didn't. I never liked the author. Before the accident she was a negative person, and hated flying. I could totally understand why her husband didn't listen to her when she said she didn't want to fly. It seems that she's been afraid of flying since she was a little girl (her dad seemed abusive in his behavior while flying). She never wanted to buy the plane, she never wanted to fly, she never really loved her husband and has been giving up on their marriage since four or five days after the wedding when they were driving around trying to find a divorce lawyer or something like that. In the end she says she loves her husband and things are wonderful. After-all they are meant to be together forever. Yet there is no indication of a happy marriage in the book, and now I find that they're divorced.

[Cecilia Burk Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredibly insightful book. Don't let the fact that it includes a near-death experience scare you away. It's only one chapter and very much UN-like the other wierd one I read several years ago. This book is a grabber from the beginning and gets better as you go. My favorite thing about this book is how the author, Ranelle, describes what she learns about love, life and herself as she begins to recover from her extensive and severe burns. Ranelle happens to have moved into a house a block away from mine a few months ago and I've had several wonderful conversations with her. As soon as you meet her you can feel love emanating from her, including you in its warmth. She is an incredible woman, who continues to live true to the lessons she has learned from her experiences. She's an example to me and all those who meet her.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely amazing book! it's a memoir of sorts from a woman who is in a plane crash, is severely burned, and how she works through the next phase of life. dealing with treatments, her marriage, and learning how to go on. she tells about her experience with death, the after-life, and coming back.

parts of the book, especially in the beginning, are extremely descriptive and gruesome as she doesn't leave out any detail about what she felt being burned, what she experienced right after trying to get to help, and through some of the recovery. but even still, you can't put the book down! it traps you and you have to keep reading and find out what's next.

it's also a good reminder to keep what's most important in mind, and priorities as they should be, because you never know...

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

You HAVE to read this book! Ranelle Wallace is an amazing person who has been through so much in her life, and has SO much of her wisdom to offer us. This is her personal story about how she and her husband were in a plane crash in UT in the early 80's. She was burned on over 75% of her body. It is about her recovery as well as her incredible journey to the other side of the veil. She teaches and shares with us the valuable and priceless lessons that she gained. This book has changed me. I now have a much greater respect for my children (not that I was some whoremonger before :P) and a broader understanding of spiritual matters. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to meet her one day.

[Sandra Strange · Rating 3 out of 5]

This narrative engages because the story is so gripping--a couple tries to rescue their increasingly lackluster marriage with a trip from their California valley home to Utah, flying their own private plane in the WINTER!! The narrator, the wife, as well as her father and friends,has warnings (burning within) that they shouldn't go, that disaster awaits, and it does. The plane crashes, then burns in the hills between Fillmore and DElta. The story is her story--her burns, her after death experiences (Betty Eady style--with some of her conclusions not exactly doctrinal), her slow recovery and its aftermath are inspiring.

[Michele Casper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an absolutely amazing story of a true survivor. Ranelle Wallace was in a horrendous plane crash and severely burnt over most of her body (much like Stephanie "NieNie" Nielson). One of the most thought-provoking parts was when her spirit left her body. She describes her near-death experience in great detail. The main thing she learned during that time is that "the key is love." She returns to her body because her work is not yet accomplished. She goes on to patch up her failing marriage, have two more children (one of whom she met in the spirit world), and even save someone in a house fire! Now that's a true heroine.

[T.K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible life after death account that forever changed my perspective. I love to read this every couple of years and I recommend it to everyone I know.

[Bonnie Atkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was reminded of this book when pondering on the one insight that I gained from it. I wasn't that impressed with the book. To me, it lacked humility, self-awareness, or transformation and I didn't connect with the main characters. Perhaps I'm only looking for the kinds of transformation I think is valuable.

The part that has been educational for me is the description of their trek down the mountain after they were burned. They were five miles from civilization and had to walk. She was severely burned and her husband had burns on his hands. She was exhausted and in horrible pain and didn't want to go any further and he completely lacked compassion, just going on. The reason was that every time he stopped to commiserate with her she stopped and was buried in self-pity. He couldn't carry her, so she had to get there on her own speed. It was her reaction to his kindness that made it impossible for him to extend it to her, or they would never get the help she so desperately needed.

I've often thought of this in my own life, and sometimes in the lives of others. Sometimes during the crisis, the most important thing is not how many people feel sorry for us or how deeply they want to help, but how quickly we can get to help. There will be time to feel sorry for ourselves later.

[Rachel Robins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a moving story of Ranelle Wallace who was severly burned in a freak plane crash. What she went through was remarkable and the fact that she overcame, endured and triumphed merits reading the book. She is LDS and had a beyond the veil experience which is amazing, she was also able to salvage a failing marriage and give birth to another child after her recovery. However, sorry, but the writing is terrible. There is so much left out and skipped over that could have been explored and there was way too much detail about clothes and other unimportant elements of the story. I read it after a very close friend's son was burnt to hopefully understand the process but there wasn't as much detail as I would have hoped for. Still a courageous woman with a remarkable story of the strenth of faith and human will so if you can overlook the poor writing, it's worth the read.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is compelling in spite of the mediocure writing, which is easily forgiven in books where people tell their own stories first hand. The story of Ranelle's experience in the spirit world was the best part. This is the third 'spirit world' experience book I have read lately and it is interesting to see what is the same and what is different in each account. They all give you a lot to think about.

I did like this quote from the last page of her book:
"And so I pray to remember him, to remember to follow him, and to seek him when I forget. Everything I know is nothing compared to a single impression from God. Whether it comes as a voice of warning or as a whisper of approval, it is the same; it is the voice of one who cares."

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm having a hard time trying to decide how to rate this. It was a really quick read and I was completely engrossed in the first 3/4th of the book. But I just didn't connect as much with the ending--especially after doing some research on her and discovering that her and her husband aren't together anymore (not surprising, though). The book is about a couple who are involved in a horrible plane crash and survive. She (Ranelle) experienced a near-death experience and has burns over a large part of her body. So I found that part of the book inspirational and it made me think. However, it was hard to read about her marriage and how her husband treats her before and after the accident.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow--this was definitely an inspiring book. It was also traumatic (obviously) - Ranelle Wallace told a lot of details about the accident which were helpful to understand the story but hard to read realizing that someone went through all of that, especially after having been warned so many times NOT to go on that trip!
After reading that part, I put the book down for a few days. When I picked it up again, it was amazing to read the rest of the story - her out of body experience and her experiences coming back. It is one of those books that makes me want to be a better person and makes me think about the choices I make and the actions I take.

[Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not really a well-written book, it's the story that I am giving 5 stars to. I loved how much I learned, and it is truly one of those books that will forever change my outlook on life and how I treat others and view myself. I love the story, the insights, and how it has really helped me try and be a better person. The writing could definitely use some help, and it's a bit repetitive and not as organized as it could have been, but it's the lessons I learned from it that I love so much.

[Selina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books you start reading and cannot put down - the whole time with your mouth HANGING open in disbelief!! I found it so hard to understand how this accident occured with every warning known to man was given to author. I shall heed the promptings of the spirit, everyone, after reading this book - even if I think I am paranoid. I do applaud Ranelle's heroism and endurance. I felt she had no support form her husban, but she was able to move on and help many others along the way.

[Carissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hesitant about this book because who isn't hesitant about after life experiences, but it was so touching. I believe Ranelle Wallace had an experience that was special and meaningful. Her account of her children and her marriage really brought her story full circle after the events of the plane crash unfolded. She is full of the vulnerability that is so endearing about women, and yet she is faithfully strong. This is a great memoir to read for anyone but especially those who are married.

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

A friend told me I just had to read this book, but when I started it I realized I wasnt going to enjoy it very much. The description of her marriage and then the plane crash made me very sad. As she described her pain after being burned it made me feel dizzy and nauseated and annoyed at her husband. It was written very realistically. At that point I skipped to the middle and then quickly to the end. I appreciate her courage and felt grateful for my life but I didnt enjoy the book very much.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book... made me think a lot about they way I do things. It was also especially interesting to me as part of the book took place in the Burn ICU where my husband worked for 6 years. It was before his time there, but some of the characters are people I know, and it gave me a patient's point of view about the happenings in the burn unit. Word of warning, there are some descriptions of burns and treatment of burns that really turned my stomach, so if you have a weak stomach, be aware.

[Maryann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because of a recommendation I got from someone else. It was ok. It's a very quick read and it's eye opening to realizing what we really value. I can't imagine getting burned so badly that you don't ever look the same again. It would be very hard. That's why I enjoyed reading this story and getting her perspective. The writing is very elementary and the narrator of the story seems kind of bossy and annoying towards her husband. That bothered me throughout the story. Yet, it was worth my time and I enjoyed her LDS outlook on life.