Where the Light Fell: A Memoir

Christianity Today Book Award Winner, 2022

"I truly believe this is the one book I was put on earth to write," says Yancey. "So many of the strands from my childhood—racial hostility, political division, culture wars—have resurfaced in modern form. Looking back points me forward."

With a journalist's background, Philip Yancey is widely admired for taking on the more difficult and confusing aspects of faith. Now in Where the Light Fell he shares, for the first time, the painful details of his own origins—taking us on an evocative journey from the backwoods and Bible-belt pockets of the South to the bustling streets of Philadelphia; from trailer parks to church parking lots; from dark secrets and family oddballs to fire-and-brimstone preachers and interminable church services. Raised by their impoverished single mother, Philip and his brother Marshall struggle to comprehend her speeches about their dead father, an Old Testament Bible story, and sons sacrificed for a divine cause.

This coming-of-age story is a slice of life, both intensely personal and broadly resonant, set against a turbulent time in post-WWII American history shaped by the racism and paranoia of fundamentalist Christianity and reshaped by the mounting pressures of the Civil Rights movement and 60s-era forces of social change. An unforgettable read, it is at once hugely funny, deeply disturbing, and achingly poignant. A testament to the power of the human spirit, Where the Light Fell illuminates Yancey's ability to bring comfort to those bruised by the church, and hope to those who can't imagine ever finding a healthy faith.

—Publisher.

Endorsements

“Searing. Heartrending. In his gorgeous memoir, Philip Yancey finally reveals the story behind his relentless quest to separate a true faith from its counterfeit. He learned the value of grace—because he was denied it. This stunning tale reminds us that the only way to keep living is to ask God for the impossible: love, forgiveness, and hope.” —Kate Bowler, New York Times bestselling author of Everything Happens for a Reason and The Preacher’s Wife

“One of the world’s finest Christian writers has written his most personal and gripping book. Where the Light Fell is a stunning memoir—beautifully written, transparent and vulnerable, raw and honest, evocative and unforgettable. It is a story of pain and redemption, of shattered lives and healing grace. Yancey’s remarkable ministry of empathy and grace can’t be understood apart from the wounds he sustained during his early life. His gifts have been shaped by his scars. Where the Light Fell is the book Philip Yancey had to write, and the book we needed him to write.” —Peter Wehner, former senior White House advisor; Contributing Writer, The Atlantic and New York Times

“A Memoir of Salvation Found and Lost. Where the Light Fell could be a Faulkner novel with racist preachers, off-kilter parenting, tormented siblings, and religious hypocrisy right and left. It’s not an overstatement to say this stunning memoir might be the miracle we’ve all waited for—a son of the South wrestles with racism and fundamentalism without resorting to caricature. I believed every word.” —Carolyn S. Briggs, author of Higher Ground

“A gripping memoir . . . Yancey’s eloquent descriptions of coming to faith and his exacting self-examination make this a standout. Exploring the corrosive role of fear in faith, Yancey’s piercing and painful account invites comparison to Hillbilly Elegy.” —Publishers Weekly

“I got the chance to read an advanced copy of Where the Light Fell and it was utterly mesmerising. Yancey’s ability to experience the WORST of the American church and yet stay faithful to orthodoxy and in love with Jesus is a bold gift. For any of you deconstructing or dealing with a traumatic church past, I can’t recommend this enough.” —John Mark Comer, author of Live No Lies

“Like other super memoirs—Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes and Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club trilogy come to mind—Philip Yancey’s Where the Light Fell comes out of a place and time that is as peculiar as it is unexpected. The story of Yancey’s upbringing may come as a shock to his readers. It certainly should. In the end his spiritual awakening is both hard-won and miraculously given.” —Harold Fickett, Founder and CEO of Scenes Media

“Reading Philip Yancey’s memoir, I feel like I am journeying through my own childhood. My wife has banned me from reading the book in bed because I wake her up laughing or crying!” —Mathew P. John, author of The Unknown God: A Journey with Jesus from East to West

“Where the Light Fell was a pleasure to read. Set amid the changing landscape of America and the church in the 1950s–80s, Yancey explores the joys and suffering of family pressures, poverty, fundamentalist religion, spiritual formation, difficult choices, forgiveness, and redemption. This well-crafted memoir is poignant, funny, challenging, and heartwarming. I highly recommend.” —Steven Elmore, President, C.S. Lewis Foundation