It Wasn’t Roaring, It Was Weeping

Description

An honest and lyrical coming-of-age memoir of growing up in South Africa at the height of apartheid, and an invitation to recognize and refuse to repeat the sins of our fathers—from the bestselling author of Never Unfriended

“Important. Riveting. Unforgettable . . . a profoundly captivating story that can profoundly change your own story.”—Ann Voskamp, New York Times bestselling author of WayMaker

Born White in the heart of Zululand during the racial apartheid, Lisa-Jo Baker longed to write a new future for her children—a longing that set her on a journey to understand where she fit into a story of violence and faith, history and race. Before marriage and motherhood, she came to the United States to study to become a human rights advocate. When she naïvely walked right into America’s own turbulent racial landscape, Baker experienced the kind of painful awakening that is both individual and universal, personal and social. Yet years would go by before she traced this American trauma back to her own South African past.

Baker was a teenager when her mother died of cancer, leaving her with her father. Though they shared a language of faith and justice, she often feared him, unaware that his fierce temper had deep roots in a family’s and a nation’s pain. Decades later, old wounds reopened when she found herself spiraling into a terrifying version of her father, screaming herself hoarse at her son. Only then did Baker realize that to go forward—to refuse to repeat the sins of our fathers—we must first go back.

With a story that stretches from South Africa’s outback to Washington, D.C., It Wasn’t Roaring, It Was Weeping is a courageous look at inherited hurts and prejudices, and a hope-filled example for all who feel lost in life or worried that they’re too off course to make the necessary corrections. Baker’s story shows that it’s never too late to be free.“Using her father’s life as a point of departure, the South Africa–born author [Lisa-Jo Baker] offers heartfelt, emotionally charged reflections on their apartheid-riven homeland. . . . Throughout, Baker seeks to understand the many sins of both her homeland and her adopted land, and she makes a tender effort to forgive her father. . . . A painful, lyrical, and bracing memoir.”—Kirkus Review

“Important. Riveting. Unforgettable. . . . A profoundly captivating story that can profoundly change your own story.”—Ann Voskamp, New York Times bestselling author of One Thousand Gifts and WayMaker

“Achingly personal yet transcendently and triumphantly human, It Wasn’t Roaring, It Was Weeping is unputdownable.”—Karen Swallow Prior, PhD, author of The Evangelical Imagination

“Lisa-Jo Baker’s story exemplifies how unpacking the pain from your past can catapult you into leaving a purpose-filled legacy. This is a vulnerable and courageous must-read.”—Jada Edwards, Bible teacher, speaker, author

“For everyone with imperfect pasts, this book is especially for us, written by one of us.”—Sean Dietrich, “Sean of the South,” syndicated columnist and author of Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

“I couldn’t put this book down. I was fascinated reading Baker’s story of her complex family and cultural heritage and deeply moved by her vulnerability.”—Jenny Marrs, co-host of HGTV’s Fixer to Fabulous and author of House + Love = Home

“This brave work reveals the profound healing that emerges when we dare to confront the most challenging parts of our stories with an open mind and a willing heart.”—Alison Cook, PhD, author of Boundaries for Your Soul

“Through the prose of a fabulously gifted writer, we are given access to her years growing up trying to make sense of South Africa during apartheid as well as the failings of a father she greatly respects.”—Katherine James, award-winning novelist, author of A Prayer for Orion

“For everyone yearning for home through challenging memories, this book will feel like a road map.”—Quantrilla Ard, “The PhD Mamma,” writer, speaker, and grief coachLisa-Jo Baker is the bestselling author of Never Unfriended, Surprised by Motherhood, and The Middle Matters. With a BA in English/prelaw from Gordon College and a JD from the University of Notre Dame Law School, Baker has lived and worked on three continents in the human rights field. Her writings have resonated with thousands and have been featured on HuffPost, BibleGateway, Fox News, Today online, Christianity Today, and more. A sought-after national speaker, she is the cohost of the Out of the Ordinary podcast. Originally from South Africa, Baker now lives with her family just outside Washington, D.C.CA

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