Nothing Bad between Us, Marlena Fiol PhD
Nothing Bad between Us, Marlena Fiol PhD
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Nothing Bad between Us
A Mennonite Missionary’s Daughter Finds Healing in Her Brokenness

Author: Marlena Fiol PhD

Narrator: Pamela Almand

Unabridged: 6 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/16/2021


Synopsis

After being publicly humiliated in front of her entire close-knit Mennonite community, Marlena Fiol didn’t know how she would recover. Follow her journey from an abusive upbringing in Paraguay to escape, love, and loss in the United States and finally on to forgiveness and reconciliation.Discover a story of healing and personal transformation. Marlena’s childhood was full of contradictions. Her father was both a heroic doctor for people with leprosy and an abusive parent. Her Mennonite missionary community was both a devoted tribe and a controlling society. And Marlena longed to both be accepted in Paraguay and escape to somewhere new. In Nothing Bad between Us, follow Marlena’s journey as she takes control of her life and learns to be her authentic self, scars and imperfections included.Uncover inner peace—and inner strength. Nothing Bad between Us is a story of brokenness and eventual redemption that taps into our collective yearning for healing and forgiveness. As you read Marlena’s story, you will:Learn how to forgive yourself and others without giving up your personal growth and self-confidenceDiscover that transformation and redemption often exist even in the most broken parts of who you areFind out how to stand in your power, knowing that vulnerability won’t lead to your downfall, but to increasing courage, connection, and authenticityReaders of memoirs about family, self-healing, and the strength of a woman like The Glass Castle, Love Warrior, and Leaving the Witness will be captivated by Nothing Bad between Us.

About Marlena Fiol PhD

Marlena Fiol is the author of the inspiring memoir Love is Complicated. Her book is a narrative exploration of her own identity journey from a tortured and rebellious childhood as a Mennonite missionary kid on a leprosy compound to eventual reconciliation with her people and within herself.Marlena has written dozens of articles exploring the themes of loss, suffering, healing, learning, love, redemption, and reconciliation. Before becoming a writer of literary essays and blogs, she received worldwide acclaim for her work on learning and identity. This work examined how people within and around organizations make sense of who they are in relation to others, and how that sense of self can change.Marlena and her husband Ed find both light playfulness and intense joy in their relationships with their grandchildren. They currently spend summers in lush, green Oregon and winters in sunny Arizona. You can learn more about Marlena and her work at MarlenaFiol.com.

About Pamela Almand

Pamela Almand, a former international 747 pilot for Delta Airlines, launched an unlikely second career after appearing in a national television spot for Tylenol in 1995. Several regional spots for Northwest Airlines followed, and she began narrating training and industry videos, built a professional recording studio, and launched the Captain’s Voice. Since then, Pamela has provided voice-over for major corporate clients worldwide, including Microsoft, Disney, Canadian Realtors, the United Nations, Zurich, International Red Cross, and the hotels and casinos of Monte Carlo. She is a SAG/AFTRA voice actor and audiobook narrator with multiple awards and nominations from the Audio Publishers Association’s Audie Awards, Society of Voice Arts and Sciences’ Voice Arts Awards, and AudioFile magazine’s Earphones Award. She lives in Atlantic Beach, Florida, with her husband, Amos.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Mary on November 09, 2020

Though I find it impossible to read this story with any kind of objectivity since Marlena is my sister, I am a witness to the pain and the healing that she and our father experienced as they struggled to find what all our hearts so deeply long for, that safe haven in one another.......more

Goodreads review by Thomas on December 17, 2020

What a powerful memoir. I found myself rooting for Marlena every step of the way along her life's journey... through abuse at the hands of her father and her church... through many challenges and blessings we all face in relationships and life. It took a great deal of courage to write a book this ra......more

Goodreads review by Grace on November 19, 2020

A deeply moving memoir of a woman making sense of her life’s journey growing up with a domineering father and mother who were called to missionary work in Paraguay. It is clear that the author is a gifted person who’s own sense of fairness was not respected as a child and teen creating wounds that s......more

Goodreads review by Chris on November 10, 2020

An amazing life story of family pain and love, combined with a unique backdrop of cultural diversity. Highly recommend!......more

Goodreads review by Janeen on June 18, 2021

This memoir takes us through Marlena's search for love and understanding from her time as a small child living in Paraquay because her parents served as missionaries there for a leper colony, to her life as an educated single mom in the United States. Because it is a memoir, the reader must trust th......more


Quotes

“This book could have been written only by someone possessed of uncommon love, compassion, and empathy.” Larry Dossey, MD, New York Times bestselling author

“I found Marlena’s story riveting and spellbinding…A true story of healing, deep reflection, raw emotion and triumph. Marlena has been able to see through her own pain in order to encourage and help bring healing to others. Highly recommended.” Misty Griffin, author of Tears of the Silenced

“A courageous story of both bringing to light family/community secrets and forgiving those who have been emotionally unavailable to us, failed to protect us, or even abused us. Marlena shows us that the path to surviving these kinds of abuses and neglect, while not linear, is achievable.” Dawn Tankersley, EdD, early childhood specialist

“Because Marlena Fiol, in her struggle for freedom, was able to make peace with her father and her faith, she reveals a path toward an accomplished and bitterfree life. Hers is an epic journey of reconciliation.” Phil Cousineau, author of The Art of Pilgrimage