Lake Drive Books Welcomes Lauren Cibene with a Memoir about Learning to Trust Again

When the things you’ve believed your whole life no longer feel solid, it can be unsettling. Fear and isolation can set in, especially when the people around you don’t understand your questions, or worse, shame you for them.

Lauren Cibene grew up in the evangelical church and all her life had heard about people experiencing “peace beyond understanding” or “God’s presence” in their moment of crisis. But all she felt in the midst of a time of tragedy was abandonment.

In her late twenties, Lauren’s marriage was in shambles and her career was a joke. That’s when an unforeseen, traumatic event shattered anything that wasn’t already broken.

She was reeling with anxiety, agoraphobia, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Like Pi, from Yann Martel’s novel The Life of Pi, she was drifting in a lifeboat, away from humanity, faith, and the person she thought she was.

On a whim Lauren and her husband decided to go to India: a whole new foreign world that would aggressively rub up against some of her most tender wounds. This is the story of how, with a palpable fear and a thousand reasons not to, she decided to trust fall into the arms of humanity.

Post-evangelicals need voices. They need signposts. They need stories from people who, like them, are swimming somewhere between deconstruction and what comes next. I’m so excited Lauren is sharing her unique journey and what it taught her, and how it can help readers everywhere.

I hope you’ll watch for updates on this new book coming in 2025 from Lauren Cibene by subscribing to her newsletter or following her on Instagram. Remember, these are opportunities for community as we all find our way forward.

David Morris, Publisher

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