At seventeen, Jennie Goutet has a dream that she will one day marry a French man and sets off to Avignon in search of him. Though her dream eludes her, she lives boldly—teaching in Asia, studying in Paris, working and traveling for an advertising firm in New York.
When God calls her, she answers reluctantly, and must first come to grips with depression, crippling loss, and addiction before being restored. Providence takes her by the hand as she marries her French husband, works with him in a humanitarian effort in East Africa, before settling down in France and building a family.
Told with honesty and strength, Stars Upside Down is a brave, heart-stopping story of love, grief, faith, depression, sunshine piercing the gray clouds—and hope that stays in your heart long after it’s finished.
Targeted Age Group:: 21 – 90
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I was a blogger first, and I used to include stories about my time in Asia and Africa. Readers often encouraged me to write a book, but I thought my stories lacked a coherent thread to tie the stories together. It was not until I'd healed from another bout of grief that I saw that God had indeed given me a coherent story to tell.
Stars Upside Down is the tale of a majestic God, who pursues us to the four ends of the earth, who leads us with cords of human kindness, a God who is rich in mercy, and who shepherds us through the hills and valleys of life until He brings us into His glory.
Book Sample
One night towards the end of my period of travels, I was on my way into Singapore. We were nearly an hour away from our destination, and I was lost in the dark sky, the stars, and my faded reflection as I leaned my forehead against the cold window and looked down into the darkness.
Suddenly, I noticed white lights below me. At first it was just a light here and there, which made me think they were houses lost in the vast countryside. But then I realized that Singapore was an island—or at least, a series of islands—so these couldn’t be lights from houses I was seeing. Where could they possibly be coming from?
We flew on, and as I started to see more and more lights appear below me, I became convinced that these had to be lights from fishing boats. There were so many of them, and so far apart, even when viewed from high altitude. I looked on in wonder, imagining what it must be like to be so far away at sea, you’re surrounded by black water and nothing else. Eventually the boats appeared closer together, and as we descended, I started to see details like strings of lights on the sails, giving these massive vessels the appearance of charming toy sailboats.
But far, far up, with just the darkness above and below me, I stared down at the boats that were lost and isolated in the vast obscurity of the ocean, and whose lights were visible only to me. It struck me as I contemplated this star-studded sky upside down that this must be the way God sees His people who love goodness and mercy. We are the bright, shining lights He sees in a dark world, ravaged by evil and decay.
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