This is the sweet story of a woman’s path of happiness that begins when she and her husband leave the city behind and build life anew in the country. Margaret Dulaney tells her story and how her life was transformed not only by their new surroundings but by the people she encountered in this small country town and the animals that she rescued there. One in particular, a mortally injured racehorse named Allie, opens the door to a deeper understanding of life, death, spirituality and purpose.

This is a heart-warming, tear-jerking and yes, uplifting true story that readers (especially nature and animal lovers) will cherish. In it is woven gentle flecks reminiscent of Walden, A Road Less Traveled and Eat Pray Love. The aforementioned book authors are probably not her muses, but I felt an unintentional kinship there.

This is one of those books you want to take with you on your travels, share with your loved ones and will probably inspire deep reflection and journaling.

And that is exactly what Dulaney does on her website, www.ListenWell.org, that encourages exploration into the Divine through story and metaphor. Her gift for prose and crafting essays is clear in this work and in her first book, To Hear the Forest Sing. All of her works (books, essays, blogs) are deep, yet relatable and powerfully inspirational. And in Parables of Sunlight, she develops and shares her daily path in search of peace as she muses on her encounters and reflections along with the guidance she receives in prayer and contemplation. Coupling this with the lessons that her animals, especially Allie, teach her, she shares her heart’s journey with the intent of inspiring hope, love, courage and forgiveness.

Image courtesy of Smith Publicity