All the Pretty Things: The Story of a Southern Girl Who Went through Fire to Find Her Way Home

"I dont know how old I was the night the trailer burned down, or if the rumor was true that Daddy was the one who set it on fire." For a long time, Edie thought she had escaped. It started in an Appalachian trailer park, where a young girl dreamed of becoming a doctor. But every day, Edie woke up to her reality:a poverty-stricken world full of alcohol and violence, where getting out seemed impossible. She taught herself to drive a stick shift truck at twelve years oldso she could get her drunk daddy home from the bar.  She spent Saturdays at Brushy Mountain prison visiting her incarcerated cousin.  She watched adults eat while her stomach gnawed and then there was torching of the family trailer, where she dug through the ashes to try to salvage her most prized possession--her Tammy Wynette album. And at the center of it all was her charismatic daddy. She never knew when he would show up but when he did he was usually drunk; she learned the hard way that she couldnt count on him to protect her.  So she told herself it didnt matter.  All she wanted was to make him proud. Against all odds, Edie "made doctor," achieving everything that had once seemed beyond her reach. Only, it was too late, because her Daddy died a year before she graduated medical school. She split the cost of his funeral with her sister.   When her past finally caught up with her, it was all too much so she did what her Daddy would have done--she set it all on fire.    It would take her whole life burning down once again for Edie to be finally able to face the truth about herself, her family, and her relationship with God. Readers of The Glass Castle will treasure this refreshing and raw redemption story, a memoir for anyone who has ever hungered for home, forgiveness, and the safe embrace of a fathers love. Review The most beautiful things are born in pressure and birthed through pain. Pain is the silent author behind thousands of great stories and songs. Edie?s story is born of pain and rejection?it is raw-throated and broken open; it is fragile and strong and bright. It is ten thousand fireflies dancing over a Tennessee field. And Edie is masterful in the telling. Read this book?but more than that, open your soul and let this book read you.John Sowers, Author of Heroic PathAll the Pretty Things is a transparent journey into the heart of a little girl whose broken father is her hero. I haven?t read a memoir like this sinceThe Glass Castle. It takes you to the hard places, and those places bring you home. Highly recommended.Emily T. Wierenga, Founder of The Lulu TreeThrough Edie?s blog we?ve come to know her as a gracious, joyful soul with a passion for loving and serving others. Now within these pages we meet the innocent little girl who loved with a brave fierceness, and we champion her on as she gracefully walks through fire time and time again. We cheer alongside the perpetual cheerleader as she dusts off the ashes and holds forth with an open, hospitable hand a crown of beauty adorned with all the pretty things.Paige Knudsen, Lifestyle and portrait photographer and bloggerEdie Wadsworth drops the needle on her life?s record and lets it play. The result is a vernacular collection of moments both beautiful and terrible; in other words, intensely human. Each reader will hear it a bit differently, but I was struck by two constant refrains: The Father will never forsake us, and there?s something hauntingly precious about a daddy. Thanks, Edie.John D. Blasé, Poet and authorEdie?s memoir is a rare gem in this world of books, one where I actually felt like I was growing up right alongside her. You will laugh and cry and cheer and be dismayed. Her storytelling is gripping, and it is easy to find ourselves in her shoes, looking for all the pretty things in this harsh world as we live each day, putting one foot in front of the other. The pinnacle of this piece of art are her encounters with the