Out of the Dark

"A beautifully rendered hero’s journey and classic road trip story, Out of the Dark is one woman’s passage from the known to the unknown as she drives not so much as away from, but into the embrace of, a painful reality that nothing could change. Told in prose as beautiful as sunlight in a dark Alaskan January that finally finds its way above the shadowy hills, Marian Elliott’s third person memoir is a testament to the magnitude of love, the kindness of strangers, and the healing power of nature."

—Sarah Birdsall, author of The Red Mitten, The Moonflower Route, and Wild Rivers, Wild Rose

"Wow, what a wonderful book. Of the variety of books I've been asked to review, this is by far the most touching and beautifully crafted. I wept in several places. The book might need a disclaimer somewhere that a box of Kleenex is required to read this novel. I say this with great admiration for the craftsmanship in evoking emotions through your writing. Out of the Dark explores how the dark night of the soul can find passage through pain to a place of radiance and hope. A deeply moving portrait of courage in a touching and beautifully rendered story."

—Kaylene Johnson-Sullivan, author of A Tender Distance and Our Perfect Wild

"Marian Elliott’s third person memoir, Out of the Dark, touchingly, and deftly, addresses the query: How did we get to this place and time in our lives? For the heroine, Jeanne, the road is sometimes pitted with obstacles but more often blessed with kindness; marred by delays yet propelled by good fortune, tormented by loss but buoyed by love. Encompassing the entire narrative, from east to west to north, is the persuasive power of nature to restore and humble. Elliott's story is a beautifully written journey from sorrow to new beginnings."

—Eric Wade, author of Squirrelland: Imagination and the Alaska Red Squirrel

2025 - IBPA Book Awards 56 - Best New Voice: Nonfiction

"Writing: 10. This memoir reads like a novel. The writing is beautiful and evocative. The first passage draws in the reader irrevocably by appealing to all the senses. 

Clarity: 10. The passages in the book are seamlessly organized. Marian’s book has such a strong beginning,middle and end. The author pulls us in from the very beginning by vividly painting a scene with her words: “With the engine stopped, she paused for a moment in the amber light, savoring the silence. She wanted to linger in the stillness of the sleeping world a while longer…” 

Mechanics/organization: 10. The writing is flawless, and the text is almost free of punctuation, grammar and usage errors. There are no awkward sentences. The text flows beautifully. We are easily able to follow the sequence of events and conversations that lead to Jeanne’s journey and her 8,000-mile trek. 

Content: 10 Marian Elliot's unforgettable writing reminds me of the best nomads of the open highway from the 1970s. Her work evokes the spirit of classic road novels and memoirs from that era, such as A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. I'll read anything she writes. The author Marian Elliot writes so movingly and piercingly about grief and loss. 

Voice: 10 Marian has an excellent ear for dialogue and a keen understanding of family dynamics. She is a welcome new voice in fiction and non-fiction. The discussions and arguments between Jeanne and Gary are so realistically rendered, while the descriptions of the landscapes and small villages in New Hampshire and Maine, as well as the Alaskan wilderness, are truly captivating 

Overall Reaction: The writer has the ability to capture all the stages of grief, loss and bereavement in a way that really draws the reader in. For example, on page 8, Jeanne tries to make a Grand Bargain with God in order to stave off Joey’s death. This is something readers can relate to. I certainly read this scene with my heart in my throat. She is also great at setting the scene and introducing new characters into Jeanne’s life on the road. I really liked Bernd and Sean and the philosophical hitch hiker Jeff and of course the romantic but practical Ben. Who could forget Gulliver, the gentleman German shepherd-Collie mix, Jeanne’s steadfast companion through grief? I’ve never encountered such an effective use of the third person in a non-fiction memoir before. It never felt awkward. It’s a lovely book."

 2025 Eric Hoffer Book Award Category Finalist

"Elliott's memoir is one of grief and recovery. Jeanne, a character the author has chosen to represent herself, confronts her loss and the limbo that she has been living in while taking a classic road trip across picturesque Canada and into the cold beauty of Alaska. During this journey, she regains her inner strength and resolve, learns how to live with the memories of Joey, and makes a determined step in the direction of a new life. 

Memoirs often explore grief and travel, and the author's work brings several to mind. On the Road, Kerouac's travel memoir, is one of the most famous. Elliott's book focuses more on the impact of her sorrow on her life and how the road helped her come to terms with it. In this sense, it has more in common with Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking. Didion's memoir chronicles her pain following the year after her husband passed away. Both authors use their writing as part of their healing journey. Didion approaches her own grief more directly, observing her behaviors and changes and trying to write analytically about what she sees in herself. Elliott pays more attention to the journey she is on, but simply through her participation in the trip and the space it affords to deal with her emotions, she too makes meaningful strides with her anguish. 

The prose in Elliott's book is well-written, and her descriptions of the wilderness are beautifully expressed. The relationship between the author and Gulliver as they make their way across Canada is subtly developed until it becomes powerful and keenly felt. Elliott's healing is evident to the reader as she meets new people and begins to engage with the life happening all around her. It is through this lens that the reader sees the healing power of the natural world and the importance of fostering relationships. This book will be appreciated by anyone interested in travel memoirs or books about characters overcoming profound emotional pain."

"Marian Elliott’s book, Out of the Dark, is a guide. It is a calm clear voice to accompany a survivor – for anyone who has been close to the stupefying loss of a child. The story is mostly a memoir but also a travelogue. There is wreckage. There is confrontation with meaninglessness. There is no promise of redemption. But finally, life among the living must be navigated in some way. Elliott journeys from New York through Canada and finally to Alaska. It is a narrative about living and a suggestion for the path to acceptance."

—Lanning Russell, editor of Event Horizon and author of the blog Bumper Sticker

"Kudos to Marian Elliott for—at long last—putting her powerful story on the pages and for publishing a stellar book at age 85. Her writing is poetic and her memoir has all the components of a wonderful tale: tragedy, loss, redemption, and salvation. From her gut-wrenching grief and through her floundering phase, I rooted for her. And I cheered when “Ben” arrived and wouldn’t let her go. It’s a beautifully written memoir that belongs on the printed page.  She makes all her readers want to move to Alaska."

—Leah Weiss, bestselling author of If the Creek Don’t Rise and All The Little Hopes

"Marian Eliott’s memoir Out of the Dark is both absorbingly rich and quiet, trembling with feeling but unafraid of looking at and into life and death in all their power and beauty and heartbreak and harrowing effect. It is a deeply personal book that invites the reader to enter it and as far as is possible to join the author in her search for acceptance: first the horror of her grown son killed in a car crash, and attempting to make sense of the meanings of being a mother, lover, friend, and human being.

She brings us through a great large country—first the expanse of northeastern America from New York all the way west to Alaska. Before long her closest companion is her deceased son Joey’s dog Gulliver with whom she travels the country and rescues from sudden illnesses and discovers just how powerful their closeness becomes. You travel with them freely for the best reasons. You fall in love with them.

I haven’t begun to do this book the wonderful justice it deserves. You’ll have to give yourself the full power and love Marian Eliott has given this book: you’ll never regret making it your companion. Read it with your soul."

—Guy Kettlehack, New York City author of over 25 books and a huge collection of poetry. Two of his poems—"Alter Ego" and "Weather Report"—won awards in IBPC competitions.