The Heart Word: How I Lost It All and Found Myself

A month after Lauren estranges herself from both of her parents, peculiar things start happening in her apartment. Ants multiply and disappear. Moth larvae emerge from beneath her bed and consume everything she owns. Each intrusion is weirder than the next as a series of events that rival the Biblical plagues descends upon Lauren's home. Is she being punished for leaving her family? Lauren has no idea how that would even be possible, but she is determined to find out.

In this haunting and poignant memoir, a no-nonsense Jewish girl from the Midwest follows the clues to an energy healer, two shamans, and an ex-Catholic nun. As the startling truth is revealed, Lauren finds herself stretching her mind and her beliefs as far as they will go. And then even further.

As Lauren's journey continues to unfold, she discovers that she is bound to her family in ways that she never could have imagined. Lauren learns that the energy of leaving persists long after we close a door, and the act of moving on is often more complicated than it seems. Now, Lauren must find the courage to go back and face herself and her roots so that she can be truly free.

This is the story of the ghosts who haunt us, and what it takes to confront them.