Leaping from the Burning Train: A Poet's Journey of Faith

by Jeanne Murray Walker

Genres: Memoir, Poetry

232 pages, Hardcover

Published November 7, 2023

About the author

Jeanne Murray Walker's poems and essays have appeared in seven books as well as many periodicals, including Poetry, The Georgia Review, American Poetry Review, Image, The Atlantic Monthly, and Best American Poetry. Among her awards are an NEA Fellowship, eight Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowships, and a Pew Fellowship in The Arts. She is Professor of English at The University of Delaware as well as a mentor in the Seattle Pacific University Low Residency MFA Program. In her spare time Jeanne gardens, cooks, and travels.

Reviews

[Philip Yancey]

Like many who grew up in the fundamentalist/evangelical subculture, Jeanne Murray Walker has been through a period of deconstructing and reconstructing her faith. She is a poet and playwright, however, not a theologian, and her memoir reflects that style: vivid images, poignant scenes, gentle movements of the soul. Such a relief from the shrill, judgmental accounts I've read in other memoirs.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars according to my personal taste, but rounding up to 4 because this writer is too good for their first starred review on this book to be any less than that.

I need to start by stating that I am one of the people, like a few students in the author’s classes, who always have trouble reading poetry. My brain can struggle with images and inferences and needs something a bit more straightforward. So, while this book was a beautifully written set of essays all somewhat related to the central theme of leaving fundamentalism, I realized while reading it that I had been hoping for something a bit different, which is not the author’s fault at all. She seems like a very thoughtful and perceptive person and a great poetry teacher. I appreciated the gentleness with which she treated this topic.

[Smith Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leaping from the Burning Train: A Poet’s Journey of Faith by Jeanne Murray Walker is a reflective and deeply personal exploration of faith, creativity, and transformation. Blending poetic insight with memoir elements, the book captures moments of doubt, belief, and spiritual searching with emotional clarity.

The strength of the work lies in its honesty presenting faith not as something static, but as a journey shaped by struggle, reflection, and renewal. A thoughtful read for those drawn to spiritual writing grounded in lived experience.