From shooting heroin in the slums of Staten Island to boating and building beach houses in the Bahamas, Slipping into Darkness, Blinded by the Light is a story of trials and triumphs, despair and faith, pride and shame. Once you embark upon this spiritual sojourn, as you laugh and cry, one thing's certain-you won't want it to end. At the tender age of five, Melanie knew her mother's impending marriage was a mistake. She spent the following eight years in a home filled with domestic violence, which resulted in her becoming an adolescent heroin addict. In rehab, as she shared thoughts and feelings with fellow residents, as her head cleared and her heart opened, she began to discover, "We're all the same-Black, White, old, young, it didn't matter. We were all the same." Thus began Ms. Lewis's love affair with life-the pleasure the pain, and the lessons. Her story transcends all racial, gender and social divides. Melanie E. Lewis's memoir is a candid exploration of desperation and darkness along the path to redemption and light, culminating, at last, in the sense of fulfillment that continues to mark the author's life. 'It has become clear how everything and everyone has had apart in making me who I am,' she writes. 'The journey is one continual learning experience, a process of evolution.' Lewis shares her remarkable journey with readers on their own quests for that elusive self-love that makes all love possible.