A Light Through the Cracks: A Climber's Story
Renowned rock climber Beth Rodden's inspiring memoir about overcoming devastating trauma, refusing to be held hostage by fear, and taking a leap toward healing.
Beth Rodden is twenty years old and already an elite rock climber when a climbing excursion in Kyrgyzstan escalates into a nightmare. Beth, her boyfriend, and two other climbers are kidnapped by militant rebels. After six harrowing days of hiding, marching, and dodging gunfire, they miraculously escape captivity. But fear follows Beth home, and pushing past it becomes a fixation.
She and her boyfriend, Tommy, train obsessively, achieving rock-climbing greatness and conquering each groundbreaking goal they set, all the while burying the terrors of Kyrgyzstan deep inside. Then comes an unexpected breaking point. For Beth, a woman at the top of her profession, the only way to overcome the anxiety that still controls her is to let go of the lifeline she's been clinging to. Blowing up her successful and familiar life, Beth clears a path to a new one--a healthy new normal beyond the anxieties of the past and the myopic pursuit of athletic perfection.
Charting a powerful journey of ambition, hope, love, physical and emotional endurance, and the true fulfilment of being oneself, A Light through the Cracks is Beth's story of climbing up and through life.
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Beth Rodden has been climbing for thirty years, and she hopes to be climbing for thirty more. She lives with her family in California. For more information, visit bethrodden.com.
"Offering glimpses into Rodden's exhilarating climbing culture, emotional vulnerabilities, marital turmoil, and steely personal discipline, which continues to ensure her survival. A dramatic account of an international ordeal that nearly upended the career of a fearless young rock climber." --Kirkus Reviews
"In this breathtaking memoir, Beth seamlessly weaves together her stories as an all-time athlete, kidnapping survivor, partner, and mother. She brings the reader into her inner world as she learns to let go of fear and expectations in order to find her true strength--not just the strength of her body, which set records and made her a legend of the climbing community, but the strength of her very heart and soul." --Sanni McCandless Honnold, cofounder of Outwild, life coach, and mother
"Beth's ability to be truly humble and wildly inspiring is totally unique. To read such a raw, honest, and vulnerable insight into Beth's journey is a gift." --Shauna Coxsey, Olympian, world champion, and mother
"An exciting journey from climbing legend Beth Rodden, whose historical career has been an inspiration for decades of rock climbers. This memoir is more than just an inside view of a climber's adventurous life; it lays bare her battle against the traumatic kidnap she endured during a big-wall expedition and finding her way back to a life without constant fear. A riveting portrait of the dedication it takes to be a record-setting climber and the ultimate need to find balance, love, and healing in her life. This is an intense, exciting, and touching read!" --Babsi Zangerl, widely regarded as the best all-around female climber of this generation
