Christina’s barebones honesty gripped me from her first words. The clear way she guides us through her jagged journey kept me torn between wanting to stop to reflect on a particular sentence, and turning pages quickly.
~ Millie Grenough Author of Oasis in the Overwhelm, Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine
OUT OF THE BOX is a literary car crash that you can’t turn away from, but happily, one in which the victims walk away, scarred but intact. From carnage to courage, author Christina Dudley, rises from the ashes of a ruined abusive marriage, phoenix-like, to ascend to a place of quiet steel forged by love and heartache. When does pain stop? When we say it does, and Ms. Dudley’s catharsis is complete when she speaks her first, fierce “no.” With her, we, the reader, breathe again. Ms. Dudley is heroic. OUT OF THE BOX is an inspiration to all that have suffered in the name of love.
~ Alki Steriopoulos, author of The Man Who Came Late to His Own Funeral
Ms. Dudley’s voice and tone are lovely, unadorned, genuine and vulnerable. I welcome the process of revisiting darkness and pain for the dual purpose of wrestling old demons and also helping lead others out of their own dark nights of the soul. I have no doubt that her story, so beautifully and authentically rendered, will inspire, soothe, and accompany others as they rebuild lives shattered by abuse.
~ Kari Gleiser, PhD. Specialist in treatment of complex trauma, AEDP Institute, Co-founder Center for Integrative Health
In a world where celebrities are idols and affluence is a an unattainable dream of many, it is easy to assume that domestic abuse is only the domain of those less wealthy and less famous. In Out of the Box Christina Dudley shares her heart wrenching and heart-healing story through the pain and suffering of abuse. We follow her as the mask of her glamorous, enviable life crumbles and she is faced with the choice to journey inside her self-sabotaging I'm not enough beliefs to discover her worth and value. This inspiring book is a must-read for anyone disconnected from the loving essence of who they are. Allow Christina's poetry and story to illuminate your path to living a wholehearted life of passion, purpose and service.
~ Susyn Reeve, Heart Healing Expert, Author of, The Wholehearted Life: Big Changes and Greater Happiness Week by Week
This book is riveting. It is the author’s story of her painful and at times dangerous journey through what I hope is only the rst half of her life. Her struggles to protect herself and her children are so familiar to folks in my line of work (social services), and yet are so rarely talked about in the open. Not only do we witness their survival, we are also privy to an experience akin to observing the blooming of a peony or some other beautiful ower. e pain, uncertainty, courage, perseverance, and love so evident in this manuscript are an inspiration to me, and I am sure will be to others.
~ Jeannette Birge, Program Director Child and Family Services
