JOURNEY OUT OF DARKNESS is Jean Darby's first novel for an adult audience.
Before that, she has written highly acclaimed biographies for children to
help them to understand the lives and times of Douglas MacArthur, Martin
Luther King, Jr., and others. Another book chronicled her husband's
suffering of Alzheimer's Disease. Mrs. Darby's first love has always been
education, and being a retired teacher herself, she knows the world of
children first hand and is very much in tune with their deepest needs and
fears.

JOURNEY OUT OF DARKNESS is a semi-biographical story, in that it deals with
a teacher who takes in a foster child with a troubled past:  the child has
been raised by a practicing satanic witch. Doreen Daniels, a.k.a. Cassandra,
serves Satan as her master, and he puts demons at her disposal. In this
atmosphere, she raises a set of twins, Rita and Maureen. Accidentally
exposed to Christianity, Rita wonders about her mother's religion and seeks
for something more.  But it will take years before she can openly explore
her tender feelings toward Christianity. In the meantime she and her sister
are trying to survive their abusive mother's rages, the minions of Satan,
and a sexually abusive stepfather who is their mother's meal ticket to a
brighter future.  One twin will be able to get out of this circle of
self-destruction, but the other one will get caught up in it.

JOURNEY OUT OF DARKNESS is not an easy book to read.  As a matter of fact, I
must confess that even though the subject matter was fascinating, the
stories of child abuse and the heartbreak that these children go through on
a day to day basis as a result of their mother's spiritual leanings and
their stepfather's evil desires was sickening. This is not the kind of book
you will read for fun, but it might be the kind of book that you should read
if you are wondering what a lack of positive spiritual role models and a
life in an abusive household looks like.  Additionally, if you are on the
fence whether you could make a difference in the life of a foster child - no
matter how old - this is a good book to get into.