Shae, “How the Light Gets In” (Reviewed by Michael Austin)

How the Light Gets InAuthor: Keira Shae
Title: How the Light Gets In: A Memoir
BCC Press, July 2018.

Reviewed by Michael Austin, Oct. 14 2018

I am giving this book five stars only because ten is not an option, and even then, I would try to take it to eleven. It is that good. If you liked Tara Westover’s Educated, you will be amazed beyond belief by Keira Shae’s How the Light Gets In. Even if you didn’t like Educated you will love this book. It is an amazing story by an amazing person whose voice should be an absolutely essential part of our national dialogue.

Keira Shae was born in Provo Utah, a land famous for happy families, clean living, and Brigham Young University. “The sordid underbelly of Provo” sounds like the setup to a joke. But it isn’t. There is actually a sordid underbelly in Provo, and Keria experienced it from the day she was born. Her mother went from unwed mother to prostitute to part of the drug trade while she was in her adolescence. Keira experienced sexual abuse, profound poverty, a parade of her mother’s boyfriends and clients, and a life that normalized things that most people would find unbelievable.

But also she had hope, and that is what the story is about. The title comes from a line in Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem: “There is a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in.” We see the cracks in Keira’s life, but we also see the light, bountifully and exuberantly rendered in the form of allies who come at unexpected times, human goodness, and a young girl who refuses to be defined by her circumstances.

Keira’s story is an act of grace, and her ability to tell it is a gift to her readers for which I will always be grateful. A truly remarkable book.

(Michael Austin is an editor at BCC Press.)

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