Marilyn Kriete – författare

A restless child of the 1960s, Marilyn yearns for love, hippiedom, and escape from her mother''s control. At 14, she runs nearly a thousand miles away to Vancouver, British Columbia, eventually landing herself in a Catholic home for troubled girls. At 16, she''s emancipated, navigating adulthood without a high school diploma, and craving a soulmate. When she falls in love with Jack, the grad student living next door, life finally seems perfect. The two embark on a cross-continental bicycle trip, headed for South America, but before they reach Mexico, Jack dies. Utterly shattered, Marilyn does the hardest thing she can imagine: a solo bicycle trip, part tribute, part life test. She conquers her fears but goes wildly off course, chasing her heart as she falls into a series of tragicomic rebounds. Two itinerant years later, a chain of events in Montana''s Bitterroot Mountains leads to a peace she never expected to find. Reminiscent of "Wild" and "Travelling with Ghosts," Marilyn''s journey portrays a life unmoored by grief, brought to shore again."Paradise Road" was selected as the International Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Club''s International Book of the Month for March 2021.

"Paradise Road is a fearless account of Marilyn Kriete''s life of adventure. She unspools the tale of plunging into each chapter of her life with great candor and momentum. She has an uncanny knack for putting the reader by her side through each exhilaration, each heartbreak, each danger, each triumph."-Kimberley Cetron author of Fractals:The Invisible World of Fractals Made Visible Through Theatre and Dance

"Watching Marilyn Kriete crack wide open and feel utterly wounded, only to watch her attempt to piece herself back together one mile at a time. From her happiness feeling truly ebullient to her crestfallen soul, we meet a woman furiously bicycling towards her future. Paradise Road is such a beautifully painted story, I felt as if I was with her and cheering her on the entire time." -Annie McDonnell of The Write Review

Marilyn Kriete shares her journey through delayed grief and leaving a cultlike group after decades of commitment in this sequel to her award-winning memoir, Paradise Road. Compelling and lyrical, earning five-star reviews and resonating with readers who''ve wrestled with lingering grief, spiritual collapse, or reinventing oneself when the life we''re living no longer works. "

What happens when buried grief rises two decades late, upending the life you''ve built on its coffin? When you add loss upon loss by constantly moving, serving a church organization--and possible cult-that expects unwavering sacrifice? How do you restore a devastated marriage, a crushed faith, and an endlessly broken heart? This is the crux of Marilyn Kriete''s crisis. After losing her fiancé and first great love to cancer, she becomes a Christian and marries Henry, joining him in a worldwide ministry that leaves little time for family or personal reflection. When her old grief resurfaces, she''s shocked by the tsunami that rips through their lives. Intensive counselling fails to bring healing, and when Henry writes a public letter that decimates their churches and spins them out of the fellowship - and lifelong employment - she faces an emotional and spiritual reckoning that challenges her to the core. In this follow up to her debut memoir "Paradise Road," Marilyn explores delayed and complicated grief in all its many disguises-dashed dreams, disenchantment, family troubles, and the guilt of being a former faith leader, now grappling with depression and dismay. With unflinching honesty, Marilyn shares the missteps and keys to recovering her battered heart, her faith, and her self-esteem. Multilayered and compelling, Marilyn''s story will resonate with anyone who''s stuck in grief, navigating a mid-life career crisis, or struggling with a spiritual life that''s lost its luster or lost its way.

A restless child of the 1960s, Marilyn yearns for love, hippiedom, and escape from her controlling mother. At fourteen, she runs nearly a thousand miles away to Vancouver, British Columbia, eventually landing herself in a Catholic home for troubled girls. At sixteen, she’s emancipated, navigating adulthood without a high school diploma, and craving a soulmate. When she falls in love with Jack, the grad student living next door, life finally seems perfect. The two embark on a cross-continental bicycle trip, headed for South America, but before they reach Mexico, tragedy strikes.

Utterly shattered, Marilyn does the hardest thing she can imagine: a solo bicycle trip, part tribute, part life test. She conquers her fears but goes wildly off course, chasing her heart as she falls into a series of tragicomic rebounds. Two itinerant years later, a chain of events in Montana’s Bitterroot Mountains leads to a peace she never expected to find. Marilyn’s journey portrays a life unmoored by grief, brought to shore again.

A restless child of the 1960s, Marilyn yearns for love, hippiedom, and escape from her controlling mother. At fourteen, she runs nearly a thousand miles away to Vancouver, British Columbia, eventually landing herself in a Catholic home for troubled girls. At sixteen, she’s emancipated, navigating adulthood without a high school diploma, and craving a soulmate. When she falls in love with Jack, the grad student living next door, life finally seems perfect. The two embark on a cross-continental bicycle trip, headed for South America, but before they reach Mexico, tragedy strikes.

Utterly shattered, Marilyn does the hardest thing she can imagine: a solo bicycle trip, part tribute, part life test. She conquers her fears but goes wildly off course, chasing her heart as she falls into a series of tragicomic rebounds. Two itinerant years later, a chain of events in Montana’s Bitterroot Mountains leads to a peace she never expected to find. Marilyn’s journey portrays a life unmoored by grief, brought to shore again.

What happens when buried grief rises two decades late, upending the life you’ve built on its coffin? When you add loss upon loss by constantly moving, serving a church organization—and possible cult—that expects unwavering sacrifice? How do you restore a devastated marriage, a crushed faith, and an endlessly broken heart?

Two years after Marilyn loses her fiancé to cancer, she becomes a Christian and marries Henry, joining him in a worldwide ministry that leaves little time for family or personal reflection. When her old grief resurfaces, she’s shocked by the tsunami that rips through their lives. Intensive counselling fails to bring healing, and when Henry writes a public letter that decimates their churches and spins them out of fellowship—and lifelong employment—she faces an emotional and spiritual reckoning that challenges her to the core. With unflinching honesty, Marilyn shares the missteps and keys to recovering her heart, her faith, and her self-esteem.

Multilayered and compelling, Marilyn’s story will resonate with anyone who’s stuck in grief, navigating a mid-life career crisis, or struggling with a spiritual life that’s lost its luster or lost its way.