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You Are NOT Alone
Wilderness Woman: A Triumphant Spirit is a raw and deeply personal memoir that traces your journey from a childhood filled with abuse and neglect to a life of resilience, healing, and faith. Why was this an important book for you to write?
My life’s true story has been an amazing journey to reflect on my past and see how far I have come through it all. I had been sitting on this manuscript for 30 years – I’ve seen and heard other people’s struggles of their lives SO I was inspired to get started to complete my book and get it published.
What was the most challenging part of writing your memoir and what was the most rewarding?
In the early days of working to find a publisher, I ran into con artists who took my money but I reported them to the fraud department at my bank. I got my money back. I checked out the next publisher with the Better Business Bureau.
Working with my new honest publisher was a hard task on my part. Going back into time and revisiting the old wounds of abuse was NOT good BUT I was determined to press on to complete my book and publish it!
One of the most rewarding results was to have a dear friend who read my book…She mentioned she too had abuses in her young life. She underlined the areas in yellow-highlight and shared the book with her new husband, who then would be able to relate to her wounded life.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in my book?
“As I grew older, an att teacher, a piano teacher, a large loving family in the country and others who loved, and supported me helped me realize that I deserved happiness. My relationship with my horses – the chapter on “Healing with Horses” Equine Therapy it’s called nowadays! They saved my life!!! I encourage others to look back and see how others helped in their lives!
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your story?
They are NOT ALONE!! It takes courage in ourselves to reach out for help! Get in a support group, go to meetings, just listen to others share and you will have the courage to share your heartfelt memories. It’s hard to trust BUT take your time and YOU’LL be able to relate to others!
Author Website
The summer of 1945…the Kansas City Star newspaper would have read like this: “The Division of Family Services reports…A young female child whose identity remains anonymous. She was rescued from her grandparent’s house. The mother and father are also being investigated by the authorities. The grandparents volunteered to watch the new baby girl. Her mother was a beauty operator down the street.”
“Diane” knew the daily drill. Each morning, her grandparents greeted her eagerly with evil warm smiles. The trap was set–the lower cabinet file drawer, which was at her eye level. She pulled the drawer out slowly and struggled to lift the heavy box out onto the floor. She sat cross-legged, enticed by the shiny eye-catching trinkets. She had not eaten breakfast. Her thoughts of the yummy chocolate-covered cherries would be good for her tummy.
The best of all was a warm wiggly reddish-brown puppy. This experience lasted day after day, week after week, and year after year. We ask ourselves how could this happen? Why? It’s called insanity, which can’t be explained.
The Lord brought a loving family into her young life. God’s creation along with her love for horses healed her childhood wounds and continues to heal her adult scars.
Wilderness Woman…A Triumphant Spirit
Diane Young’s Wilderness Woman: A Triumphant Spirit is a raw and deeply personal memoir that traces her journey from a childhood filled with abuse and neglect to a life of resilience, healing, and faith. Young pulls no punches in recounting the horrors of her past, offering a searingly honest depiction of what it means to survive trauma. Yet, this isn’t just a tale of suffering—it’s about hope, perseverance, and, ultimately, breaking the cycle of abuse to create a brighter future.
What stands out most about this book is Young’s ability to bring her memories to life with striking clarity. The opening chapters are almost too painful to read at times. The scene where she is locked in a bathroom with baby chicks while her caregivers abandon her for hours is particularly gut-wrenching. These moments are not just shocking; they are viscerally felt, forcing the reader to sit with the weight of her experience.
Despite the darkness, Young’s love for nature emerges as a powerful motif. Her connection to the outdoors—whether it’s the comfort of fresh air, the steady presence of horses, or the escape she finds in the simple beauty of wildlife—acts as a lifeline. The chapter “Horses and Healing” is especially poignant. When she describes the sensation of sitting atop Ribbon, a strong black horse, for the first time, there’s a sense of liberation that leaps off the page. It’s one of the few times in the book where Young describes feeling powerful and at peace, and it’s a testament to the way nature can provide solace in the midst of chaos.
The writing itself is straightforward, almost unfiltered, which makes it feel like you’re sitting across from Young, listening to her tell her story firsthand. This rawness is both a strength and a challenge. At times, the bluntness of the prose makes the horror of her experiences even more stark. There are moments where I wished for more breathing room—more reflection between the heavy blows of trauma—but perhaps that’s part of the point. Life doesn’t always give us space to process pain before throwing more our way.
Wilderness Woman: A Triumphant Spirit is a story of survival in its purest form. It is not a polished, neatly packaged tale with a perfect resolution—because real healing doesn’t work that way. Instead, it’s a testament to strength, faith, and the ability to carve out a new path despite a painful past. I would recommend this book to anyone who has endured trauma, those who work with survivors, and readers who appreciate memoirs that tell the truth, no matter how difficult.
Pages: 140 | ASIN : B0DB2K3TY6
LITERARY TITAN 