With all the uncertainty and sorrow occurring in the world, it is important to keep our eyes on the one who holds our fate. Mona Curtis has created an engaging memoir in Life and Death in the Mind: A Song of Self-Sabotage and Hope that delivers this exact message. A subjective account of the journey she had traveled with God through decades of trials and adventures, it is divided into two main sections: Death and Life.
Curtis’ narrative follows the experiences and decisions of Rose Fischer, a hapless and bitter girl who slowly discovers the love of God. Her journey ranges from Connecticut to Colorado, Mexico to China over a span of more than sixty years. She wrestles with her relationship with her family and the church, and even with God, but the most important challenge Rose faces is her relationship with herself. She persistently makes choices that she knows are not good for her, perhaps precisely because they are not good for her. Yet God never gives up on her.
Multiple times throughout the book, Rose is likened to the aborted fetus in Ezekial 16:
“On the day you were born, your cord was not cut, nor
were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were
you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. No one looked
on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of
these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the
open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.
Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood,
and as you lay there in your blood, I said to you, ‘Live!’”
The story is littered with other biblical references reflecting whatever theme represents that era of Rose’s life, occasionally applied in poetical ways.
The account uses magical realism style of storytelling in the tradition of films such as Big Fish (2003) to simulate the recollections of a confused mind that occasionally wandered into psychosis. It is full of fantastical moments that may or may not have happened, including run-ins with the mafia and dates with Jesus. The narrative does not focus a great deal on continuity, rather describing vignettes from the various eras of Rose’s life.
Against the gritty backdrop of a troubled childhood and youth, Curtis outlines the golden thread of God’s grace as it follows Rose through dark places. This book was independently published and could be polished more, but what it lacks in technical flawlessness, it makes up for in a vivid use of language and powerful emotions. I would recommend it to anyone who loves memoirs that are honest and real and that display the faithfulness and mercy of God. This book contains material that may be challenging for some, and I would not recommend it for children without parental guidance, but the dark shadows serve as a stark contrast to the faith and hope of its Christian message. Sometimes shocking, sometimes sad, it never lets go of that thread of hope.
Life and Death in the Mind: A Song of Self-Sabotage and Hope by Mona Curtis
Independently Published, February 2026
290 pages
Ahneka Valdois is a secondary English teacher at a Christian boarding school for girls in Kansas. She has a PhD in Higher Education from Azusa Pacific University in California and spent many years in China teaching college students English composition. She is the author of multiple fantasy novels, including Stone of Athaen and The Channeler’s Daughter. Her books are available on Amazon under her pen name, A. J. Valdois.
