In her memoir, Strand of Pearls, author Deborah Livingston recounts her journey from childhood abuse, frequent tragedy, and adult addiction to a spiritual transformation that brought her an inner peace and joy available to us all. Deborah was the first of three children born to a Canadian father and a New England motherparents who were worlds apart in their own upbringings and views of the world. From two to sixteen, when she was finally able to break free, Deborah suffered abuse at the hands of her father. Her freedom from that abuse took her to abuse at the hands of others and to a tragic accident that cost the life of a friend. Her misfortunes early in life and her inability to see them as the pearls they actually were led to serious addiction in her early forties. And yet this addiction saved her life, preparing her for the inner transformation she would experience. In Strand of Pearls, Livingston invites the reader into the most painful, raw moments of her past so that the light of the present might shine brighteras an invitation to others to embrace hope, faith, and gratitude in their lives.