Siege of the Soul: Navigating Faith and Parenthood After the Unexpected

by Brianne Sutton

*You're emotionally exhausted. Your faith is unraveling thread by thread.*

The diagnosis changed everything. Now the daily demands—therapy schedules, insurance battles, sleepless nights—are magnifying struggles that came with the news: isolation, doubt, the quiet lie that if you were stronger, more faithful, more capable, this wouldn't be so hard.

You're not alone. Something deeper is at work.

Inspired by C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters, Siege of the Soul uses demonic correspondence to reveal how the enemy exploits crisis—not through dramatic attacks, but by turning exhaustion into isolation, isolation into doubt, and doubt into the belief that God's love must be earned.

Through fictional letters from senior demon Drivelbane to his nephew Mumblewort, you'll watch a mother's journey unfold: the frantic striving, the crushing perfectionism, the slow erosion of joy. But you'll also witness something the demons never anticipated—a woman learning to recognize the whispers goading her toward despair, and remembering Whose she is.

"My dear Mumblewort, she is creating a testimony. And testimonies are contagious. This is our worst nightmare: A human who transforms suffering into cairns, who allows her pain to become someone else's permission to speak truth and pursue healing. One liberated soul is manageable. But a company of them? A small army bound not by shared circumstances but by shared Presence? That makes me shudder."

This is not another inspirational story promising breakthrough if you just believe harder. It's honest companionship for the long road—grounded in biblical lament, informed by counseling principles, and written for parents who are bone-tired of pretending they're okay.

"Siege of the Soul is a rare companion for anyone walking through the hidden valleys of fear, fatigue, and faith. Brianne writes with a tenderness and honesty that give language to experiences many parents in the special needs and varying-abilities community feel but struggle to express. Her blend of creative storytelling, theological reflection, and lived experience invites readers not only to feel seen, but also to sense the nearness of the God who holds us in our most disorienting seasons."
— Scott Sauls, Pastor and Author of Beautiful People Don't Just Happen

For readers who loved:
A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering by Tim Keller
When God Weeps by Joni Eareckson Tada
Desperate for Hope by Vaneetha Risner

Literary. Contemplative. Grounded in Scripture.
Not advice. Not platitudes. Just honest companionship for parents learning to recognize the distortions and remember whose they are.

180 pages, Hardcover

Published January 16, 2026

About the author

Brianne Sutton is a wife and mother of two (one with special needs), who thinks deeply and often reluctantly about how to navigate the intersection of faith and special needs parenting.

She didn't plan to write this book. For years, she served as a mentor to younger women while drawing strength from older believers who had walked similar roads. But when her own journey took an unexpected turn—when exhaustion compounded into isolation, and isolation into the slow suffocation of despair—she discovered something crucial: the enemy's whispers magnifying her struggles not only weren't true—they were strategic.

Growing up in a home where difficult theological questions were welcomed rather than silenced, Brianne learned early that doubt and belief often walk hand in hand. Her background in neuroscience deepens her understanding of developmental differences, even as her faith shapes how she holds both knowledge and mystery together. She's spent decades studying Scripture, exploring biblical counseling principles, and asking the hard questions about where God is when unexpected and hard seasons don't end.

Siege of the Soul was forged in that crucible—not as a roadmap out of pain, disillusionment, and disappointment, but as a companion for the long journey through it. Through demonic correspondence inspired by C.S. Lewis, Brianne exposes how the enemy exploits crisis by turning devotion into performance, love into exhaustion, and hope into something too dangerous to trust. But she also reveals the truth that unravels every lie: you are beloved—not because you're strong enough, but because He is faithful.

Brianne writes with the vulnerability of someone still discovering what acceptance and hope look like in her own story. She knows the questions don't end—they deepen. And she's learned that authentic faith isn't found in having all the answers, but in bringing your whole self—doubts, exhaustion, and all—before the God who meets you there.

She lives with her family in Colorado, where she's still learning to recognize the distortions and remember whose she is. When she's not writing, you'll find her hiking or snowshoeing, reading Zoey and Sassafras to her kids, and always returning to the truth that sustains her: you are beloved.

Connect with Brianne at siegeofthesoul.com, where she writes about faith, perseverance, and learning to hear the Voice that calls us Beloved when every other voice says we're not enough.