Click here to purchase your copy.

About the Book

Book title: A Door Cracked Open

Author: Carmina Edwards

Release date: November, 2015

Genre: Biography

Raised in a mean-spirited, poverty-stricken home in the seventies, where her quarrelsome father tries to squash her carefree spirit and her three siblings make fun of her, Amy struggles to understand what value she has. Somehow finding God in the midst of an atheist upbringing, she perseveres to grow up better than the useless person she’s assured she is.

When told at the age of sixteen that she must start working to pay her way instead of finishing school, she dares to dream of a better life, away from the squabbles and constant despair she encounters at home.

A magazine ad from a family in Sweden, looking for someone to watch their children, entices Amy’s adventurous spirit, and she soon finds herself looking through a new door in her life, cracked open to an amazing world she never dreamed possible, where people are nice to her and life is good.

“An incredible true story of perseverance in adversity, this is one account where truth truly is stranger than fiction.” ~Laurie Penner.

My Review:
"A Door Cracked Open" by Carmina Edwards is a true story about a girl that was abused by her father and even teachers. I felt sorry for Amy while reading this story because I know how it felt like not being apart of the school crowd, no I wasn't abused like Amy, but like Amy I closer to my grandmother, though in Amy's case it was her aunt until she went to Sweden and then it was the two families that she worked for but she has a special relationship with the grandmas.

Amy's story is told with honesty and I felt like I was actually listening to Amy tell her story rather than reading it. There are accounts of abuse like her father slamming the piano lid down on her hand because of a wrong note but there is also funny accounts like her making bread and can't read all the Swedish words yet so she leaves out an important ingredient figuring it won't make much difference.

Though the whole book Amy shows that ( this is a direct quote from the book) " She could always see a reason for everything and would go through life finding and focusing on the reason for things that happened to her. Amy found a blessing in each and every incident, however difficult or painful they turned out to be, trusting in God, whom she was not allowed to talk about"

The story was easy to read except the abuse part( who likes to read about abuse) but it was written in good taste and easy to follow but it sometimes seemed to be repeating itself.

I was literally saying to myself "Thank you God, that you sent Amy to the right family when she was learning to be a teenager and experiencing normal teenager actions".

Ok, I must be honest here and say I didn't like the fact that the families let her have alcohol ( wine) maybe because it was Sweden, she was 17 and 18, I know that it won't bother other readers but I am just being honest here. I also know that is a true story and not fiction so had to be included in the telling.

I am adding her second book "Into a Silent World" to my to be read list. It is a continuation of her life and the ending of "A Door Cracked Open" left me wanting to know how her last choice turned out. I do believe there is a third book coming also.

I really encourage all readers to read this book and if nothing else, help her support homeless people, this is her statement from her guest post on the book tour "Because I feel passionately about helping the homeless, a large percentage of my royalties will go directly to them." I think if you read the book you will see how the human spirit can rise above overwhelming odds.

"A Door Cracked Open" by Carmina Edwards is a five star memoir.

I was given a complimentary copy by the author and Celebrate Lit. These opinions are my own.

About the Author

222938_1045001648055_1316040273_30132258_9921_n[1]

I am a mother of two wonderful grown up children and currently living in the UK, after living in Sweden for three years where I wrote my first book, “A Door Cracked Open.” I was blessed to be able to spend six months in USA before returning to the UK, my home country, to work with my editor in California on the edits of this book and visit friends.

I am an avid reader and linguist, having also spent some years living in France and have been fortunate enough to have taught Swedish and French over twenty-five years and translate for businesses and manuscripts in both languages. Being unemployed the past few years, has led to me becoming homeless. However, I never give up hope. As I try to portray in my books, God has always had His hand on me. Once again, He has stepped in right at the last minute. I now have a new job in Sweden and will be moving back there. Because I feel passionately about helping the homeless, a large percentage of my royalties will go directly to them.

Guest Post from Carmina Edwards

Something about my book.

After many friends, having seen the unusual life I have led up until now, told me that I should write a book, I finally decided to do just that. I am an ordinary person who has not suffered more than many, but have been privileged with many extra-ordinary experiences. I wrote my book in order to share with others, just how God has had His hand on me and brought me through some tough times which seemed impossible to find a way out of. My first book highlights some of this, though it isn’t until the second book, that more becomes clear and the third book will show the extreme mercy and grace He has showered me with. The story is still unfolding. My aim is to show, through my writing, that giving up is never an option. Stay true to God and He does pull us through. Trusting in Him is key and I personally, have seen Him transform some of the dreams He put onto my heart, into reality. I’d love for my books to be of some encouragement to others and have so far received several emails from readers all over the world, telling me how my story so far, has done that. One went so far as to say that she had given up, but read my book purely by chance and has picked herself up and is once again back on the road to reach her goals. The story of a scatty, spontaneous and highly sensitive girl, ridiculed all her life because of her faith and dreams, (she’s born into a completely atheist family). never gives up and some of the situations she gets herself into are pretty scary, but sometimes humorous. Yet God’s protection is seen all the way through.