Denied college, Beverly Donofrio lost interest in everything but riding around town in cars, drinking and smoking, and rebelling against authority. She got married and divorced and finally ended up in an elite New England university, books in one arm, child in the other. A book about the compromise between being your own person and fitting into society.

"A narrative composed of brutal honesty, tenderness, and an aching love for God. I could not put it down." --Sue Monk Kidd, author of "The Secret Life of Bees"

In the middle of her life, acclaimed memoirist Beverly Donofrio thought she'd found a safe haven in a beautiful town in Mexico--until she was awakened in her bed by a rapist. As she writes in this fierce, unflinching account: "This was not supposed to happen. I was supposed to have escaped: I had hot flashes and liver spots and was in the final stretch."

Here Donofrio wrestles with anger toward her attacker and toward life, yet realizes her despair is not unlike that of other friends who are struggling with grave illnesses, loss of jobs, deaths of loved ones. Hoping to heal from trauma, Donofrio turns to prayer while journeying to five very different monasteries. A testimony to how anyone who is broken can move away from fear and anger toward grace, "Astonished" will not only be read and shared by fans of Donofrio's previous books, but also by anyone who hopes to be inspired by Donofrio's strength and her search for faith, healing, and identity.

Entering her fortieth year, Beverly Donofrio, a "lapsed Catholic," inexplicably begins collecting Virgin Mary memorabilia at yard sales. Her search for kitsch, however, soon becomes a spiritual quest, leading her to make a pilgrimage to the holy city of Medjugorje. There, she learns that Mary comes into your life only when pride steps out and receives a bonus: hope. In Looking for Mary, Donofrio offers the universal story about a woman who-in a quest for the Blessed Mother-finds herself.