Debbie Barry

Thirteen Days to Darkness Debbie Barry

This is a true, intimate, autobiographical account of going blind. Arranged like a journal, this honest, open story takes readers through the first days of going blind, through the baffling search for answers from doctors, and through the first year and longer of living with blindness. Emotionally fraught, the journey is sad, fearful, sweet, hopeful, angry, harsh, and loving, by turns. Filled with photos, descriptions, and dialogue, it illustrates the heartache and hope of this life-altering experience. In a story of inner, emotional darkness, as well as physical, visual darkness, the author continually identifies the spiritual and emotional lights that support her on her journey. Family, friends, and events are critical to the author's survival when blindness engulfs her life. The high-contrast, white-on-black text combines with the large text, making this book accessible for many visually-impaired and legally-blind readers. Visually accessible books are important, not only for adults, but for those children who, through illness, injury, or from birth experience reduced vision. This is a personal mission of the author, who was blessed to grow up with normal vision, and had a love of reading from early child, but who lost most of her vision while her children were still young, as chronicled in this autobiographical story.