Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.8950092
EAN: 9780385334679
ISBN: 0385334672
Label: Delta
Manufacturer: Delta
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: 2000-02-08
Publisher: Delta
Release Date: 2000-02-08
Studio: Delta

"This is the story of an extraordinary boy with a brilliant mind, a heart of gold, and a tortured soul. It is the story of an illness, a fight to live, and a race against death.

I want to share the story, and the pain, the courage, the love, and what I learned in living through it. I want Nick's life to be not only a tender memory for us, but a gift to others. . . . I would like to offer people hope and the realities we lived with. I want to make a difference. My hope is that someone will be able to use what we learned, and save a life with it."—Danielle Steel

From the day he was born, Nick Traina was his mother's joy. By nineteen, he was dead. This is Danielle Steel's powerful, personal story of the son she lost and the lessons she learned during his courageous battle against darkness. Sharing tender, painful memories and Nick's remarkable journals, Steel brings us a haunting duet between a singular young man and the mother who loved him—and a harrowing portrait of a masked killer called manic depression, which afflicts between two and three million Americans.

At once a loving legacy and an unsparing depiction of a devastating illness, Danielle Steel's tribute to her lost son is a gift of life, hope, healing, and understanding to us all.

Customer Rating:
Summary: His Bright Light - A Child With Mental Illness
Comment: The notoriously private Danielle Steel opens up her entire life to readers in this emotional and moving true story about her son Nick, who struggled his entire life with mental illness. I highly recommend this book for any mother who has a child with a mental illness.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Written From The Heart
Comment: This book went straight to the heart. For any of you faced with challenging children, this book shows a mothers journey of never giving up through life's challenges with raising a challenging child.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A searing and moving account
Comment: This is not just one mother's struggle to help and understand her bipolar child, it is a commentary on the state of help for mentally ill adolescents. The one mother, of course, being the famous and wealthy Danielle Steel who had resources beyond most parents wildest dreams. Yet she encountered numerous educators, psychologists and psychiatrists who were incompetent and disastrous. But this book is also about unconditional love, being resourceful and never giving up. As someone who has worked in both mental health and education, I am so sad that when kids don't fall into the cookie-cutter mold (although Nick was far from that), there is such a hodge-podge of often inadequate help for them. I highly recommend this book and think Danielle Steel has really given readers a wonderful gift in sharing her story.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: she liked it!
Comment: bought this book for girlfrind, she has a sizeable collection of danielle steel, an her comment when finish reading it was "that lady speaks from the heart" .she being one who knows her danielle steel,an commenting on them to me, this was one of her better recommendations. Enjoy!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Warmth, Love and Compassion
Comment: This book is such a deep, feeling, compassionate true story of the pain and suffering Danielle Steele and her son Nick experienced. It is honest, very, very human and shows human suffering in such a clear manner that you can feel the pain of Danielle, Nick and the rest of the family and close friends. I have a son with a similar diagnosis as Nick, and it has helped me to better understand him and myself, and realize that I am not alone on this journey to support the son I love so very much through his painful experiences. Every person should read this to understand how love and bonding with others that have emotional problems is so painful - and if one is in that same situation, this book helps you relate and learn and perhaps realize there is no guilt, no blame - it is just the way it is and you can only do so much for an ill person. But what she points out so strongly is the bond they had and their love for each other, which gave her son the energy to be as productive as he was during his lifetime - and just so awful that the pain was so horrid that he had to end it all - But when you take this journey with Danielle and Nick through this book, you can feel the pain Nick had and understand a bit as to why. I recommend this to anyone who wants to understand humanity a bit more than they do - so they can help those who need the extra step of care and understanding to help them through their horrid journey of life when they are emotionally ill. How courageous and wonderful of Danielle Steele to share this with us, and open herself up to her feelings, her insecurities and her emotions. Thank you, Danielle - and thank you Nick and helping us understand your pain through your mom.

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