Peace by Piece

by Cheryl Fuller

Peace by Piece Not since Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning have I read a narrative of trauma survival and recovery that has impacted me this profoundly. Cheryl writes in unflinching first person, giving voice to the little girl trapped in the dark heart of abject torture—the terror and loss is real-time and sensorial for the reader—and out the other side into the light of recovery and healing. It is a breathless journey that leaves the reader awe-struck and reverent to the resilience of children to survive evil with their innocence intact and the eternally-springing hope of being loved and accepted by their abusers. This book is a rare treat that navigates the path of heartbreak to the path of posttraumatic growth all the way to the restoration of life, love, safety, joy, meaning and satisfaction—peace by piece. It is an intimately personal story that shimmers with honesty and is not once melodramatic or contrived. Instead, this book is a finely chiseled heroine’s story. The story of a courageous adult who returns to her painful past to rescue and champion her younger self out of the miasma of past violence to the Grace of the present that—by the end of the book—we find ourselves celebrating. Reading the last page of this book felt as though something important was achieved and something precious received—not just for Cheryl, but also for myself and all humankind. A month after reading this book I find it still continues to haunt me…in the best of ways. J. Eric Gentry, PhD, DAAETS, FAAETS President Forward-Facing Institute

187 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 3, 2021

Reviews

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the hardest book to read, but I'm so glad I did. This incredible woman and dynamic speaker came to one of our counselor meetings this year. I do not have the words to describe the amount of strength, vulnerability, and courage she had to live and share her story.

[Erica Maupin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously this book was not written by a full time author. With that being said, I give it 5 stars. The brutal honesty in which she approaches her trauma made for a gut wrenching read. I couldn’t stop as I wanted to know how she made it through all of this and became such a great human being. Although there were some chapters I had to pause just to cry it out. Definitely make sure you are in the right mindset to read and process the first half of the book, which details her childhood of abuse and neglect.

[Toni Grasso Lynch]

Wow. This can’t be rated, and there is no review or opinion worthy enough to comment. Much love to you, Cheryl Fuller ❤️

[Christopher Pokorny · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I read this book, I am reminded of the accounts of American Prisoners of War. Their stories of survival and languishing away in captivity. The author of this book recounts her upbringing filled with fear, pain and anxiety at the deepest levels with little to no relief. She survived and did what she had to do in order to preserve her sanity and life. She shares her journey of unlearning the trauma infused childhood lessons of her abuse, with new insight from her decades of therapy sessions. This books is a great read and provides perspective and hope to those who are on their own journey of healing and restoration. It would also be a good read for helping professionals, to better understand the client-patient role of a client who survived childhood abuse and neglect.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to begin...I got this book after hearing the author speak at a conference I was at where she shared some of her story. As a fellow survivor of abuse, I was struck by her ability to be vulnerable in sharing her story in the context of helping others. Be cautioned (as she points out as well in the book) some of the experiences she wrote about are tremendously hard to read but she does an excellent job of showing the progress she was able to achieve through hard work in her therapy to make some sort of sense of these events and how they impacted her and how she has been able to tap into her genuinely wonderful heart to use all this pain for something good. It defiantly resonated with my own experiences and path to healing. Thank you Cheryl for this gift.

[Denise Bevan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking and amazing

This was a very hard book to read! The abuse that this poor girl suffered in a very small town is beyond imagination, and to know the people in the book makes it even more painful, I also knew and trusted some of these people. To know the school system failed her, the police and church as well as her own family is so troubling, many of the teachers in the book were still teaching in the 1990’s, thirty more years of children being exposed to this man...May God bless Cheryl for the rest of her days! She deserves sunshine and light every day ❤️

[Selena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye-opening.
We are reading this for a series of workshops by the author, Cheryl Fuller. She began the workshop by giving us a prompt by one of the scenes in the book. She did not tell us it was about her until the end of the first day.
I have so many questions. How did she survive this physically? How do adults like this seem to slip through the cracks? How are other adults not paying enough attention to ask questions? Even if they are wrong, there should have been questions.
As an educator/parent/adult/daughter, I have no words. As difficult a read as it was, I am "glad" I read it, if only to be reminded to do my part to watch out for others.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first part of this book is about the abuse that the author endured. It was very difficult to read, but necessary in order to prepare the reader for the second part, which is about her healing journey. It is an important book for anyone to read who works with young people. As an educator, I was taught to look for signs of abuse, but never realized that not all students exhibit these signs. Some, like the author, are quiet and hard working in order not to draw attention to themselves. This book helped me rethink some of the things that I had been taught about abuse.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

After listening to Cheryl Fuller speak during a conference, and then reading this book, I am completely in awe of her strength, because as a child, she endured extreme abuse, trauma, and torture for years. This is a difficult read. But, as a nurse who works with children daily, I am taking away some valuable lessons, and plan to utilize these when communicating with children who may be victims of abuse.

[Bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as a part of a trauma training conducted by Cherie herself and my goodness! The book was well written but furthermore her story was disturbing and hard to digest at times. I cried several times. Cherie is a beautiful soul and I was so honored that she shared her story with us. I would recommend this book!

[Heather Easley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in social work, and this book was gifted to us at one of our regional department meetings. I am so grateful! While I suggest you be in the right head space to read it, it is truly a page turner and one of the fastest I’ve read beginning to end. A great story of childhood trauma and the resilience to overcome it!

[Amanda White · Rating 5 out of 5]

After seeing Cheryl at a conference this winter, I finally braved reading her story. Nearly impossible to imagine her childhood and encouraged, amazed, and inspired by her survival and commitment to serving others.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a powerful yet gut wrenching story. While reading her tale of trauma was painful, I connected with Cheryl’s tale of healing. If you’re in the right headspace for such a dark tale, I highly recommend this book.

[CLAUDIA D. MARSHALL · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is joy

There is light at the end of a long dark tunnel hold on nor will come! Don’t be discouraged but carry on!,

[Melissa Nytko · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you can handle reading details about childhood trauma, then do it. It's truly a story about resilience and doing the hard work to find your way back from being abused.

[Katie Sleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The abuse is very hard to read and I had to skip some parts, however the hope and journey to peace is great. I'm so glad she survived.

[Christina Olague · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never has a book made me feel so many emotions and make me physically sick….it is amazing the life she had and how she was able to turn into the successful woman she is.

[Adrian Tharpe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cheyrl Fuller is a phenomenal author. I had the privilege of completing a 3 day professional development course with her over the summer and it was very informative.

[David Downum]

I don't feel comfortable reviewing this as the story is so personal. If feels like rating pain.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart wrenching and healing

How??? There are no words for how amazing this was written! My heart broke but in the end was mended!

[Hollie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am at a loss for words. Just wow. Thankful she was brave enough to share her story. I could not put it down.

[Tabitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up in the same town years later. My parents actually went to school with her and her siblings. My sister and I had many conversations after reading this book. We started asking our father questions. There were many children at that time being physically, mentally, emotionally, and sexually abused and those in positions to help turned a blind eye. Our father said this stuff happened all the time and nobody did anything about it. My prayers are with Cheryl as she continues to battle the memories and to work through her therapy.

[Samantha Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broke my heart. I grew up in this town and found out after reading this book that my grandfather was friends with Cheryls father, that evil man was a monster. After reading this book family secrets came out and even the teacher named in this book passed away. I pray that Cheryl finds peace in her therapy and God. I am sorry for the monsters you had to survive in your life.