Spotlight of No Way Out But Through by Susan Beckham Zurenda

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TYPORAMA

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NO WAY OUT BUT THROUGH

SUSAN BECKHAM ZURENDA

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ALL INFORMATION IN THIS POST IS COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR.

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Based on the life of a real woman who survived the human pain of an appalling childhood and forced child marriage to triumph from her circumstances, No Way Out but Through is a deeply emotional story especially relevant in our current national climate rife with accounts of underage girls being trafficked or coerced into abusive marriages.

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August 18, 2026

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ABOUT NO WAY OUT BUT THROUGH:

An unforgettable story about surviving the harsh realities of parental coercion and abuse, the resilience of the human spirit, and a conversation that changes the lives of two women forever.

A generation apart, Grace Ferrall and author Shannon Irwin bond at Pawley’s Island as Grace exposes her grim upbringing and marriage.

As Grace tells her staggering story, Shannon becomes more and more attached to this remarkable young woman, prompting her to confess and confront her own troubles.

Grace’s ordeal starts in Louisiana, with an alcoholic father and a mother whose mood swings are often intolerable.

When Grace is barely fifteen and living in Oklahoma, her mother manipulates her into marrying Rafe, a scurrilous, older man.

Pregnant at sixteen, Grace is soon living in a truck near a river in Oregon with Rafe’s cult-like family.

After years of abuse and multiple pregnancies and miscarriages, with the help of an unlikely ally, Grace escapes.

But her newfound freedom is fragile, and she is forced to make impossible choices to protect herself and her two daughters.

Shannon is ridden with guilt about her former marriage and reveals the dysfunction in her life and the remorse she suffers over her daughter, Millie, who is Grace’s age.

Trust builds between the two women as they share details they have never told anyone.

The result of this powerful female relationship is sometimes disturbing but ultimately one of healing and self-discovery.

No Way Out but Through is inspired by the real life of an ordinary woman who survived extraordinary circumstances.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Susan Beckham Zurenda taught English for 33 years on the college level and at the high school level to AP students.

She is author of the award-winning Southern literary novel, Bells for Eli, and the recipient of numerous awards for her short fiction, including the South Carolina Fiction Awards, twice. 

Her second novel, The Girl From the Red Rose Motel (Mercer University Press, September 2023), was the recipient of the 2024 Patricia Winn Award in Southern Fiction, Gold Medal winner in the 2024 IPPY Awards for Southeast Fiction, a 2024 Pushcart Prize nominee, a Shelf Unbound 2023 Notable 100 books, and a finalist in the American Book Fest Awards.

Gold Medal winner in the IPPY Awards for Southeast Fiction, among other prizes.

 For my short stories, she won the South Carolina Fiction Prize twice.

The author lives in Spartanburg, SC.

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