A Letter to a Friend

Winner of the 2020 Illumination Book Awards Enduring Light Silver Medal for Christian Thought and other awards
"I've never read a more exquisite description of this complex process."(Vicki Bourus, SC Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault executive director; Family Justice Center of Georgetown and Horry Counties executive director)
In this spectacular debut, Patty Wain Smith delivers an authentic and emotionally raw love letter to victims. This unforgettable book transcends self-help and documentaries. The conversation is intimate, affirming, and relatable for victims and those who want to know why it's so hard to leave.- It's gentle, powerful, and unspeakably honest-the perfect book to give to a friend, coworker, neighbor, family member, or anyone in an emotionally or physically abusive relationship.
- Social Workers, clergy, counselors, police officers, nurses, and educators will find themselves transported into the layers of this tragic and hard-to-address social issue, and learn how helping victims can integrate with the Christian faith.


A Letter to a Friend: The Story of Abuse in America combines psychology, counseling, domestic violence, child development, and Christian principles with hope and love. There's a bonus at the back: a link to an original song that helps the reader grieve-an essential part of recovery. Follow the journey of a survivor who grows stronger and wiser after accepting God's gift, and discover the one thing that changes everything.


A Letter to a Friend: The Story of Abuse in America is the winner of the 2020 Illumination Book Awards Enduring Light Silver Medal for Christian Thought; the 28th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards Honorable Mention for Inspirational; the 2019 International Book Awards Finalist for Best New Non-Fiction, Self-Help: Relationships, and Health: Women's Health; and the 2019 Living Now Book Awards Bronze Medal for Relationships: Marriage.
(New Words Publishing, LLC)