Questing Home

Questing Home
Marilyn Barnicke Belleghem, M.Ed.
Quest Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9734129-4-9
Non-Fiction, Memoir
Reviewed by Dr. Tami Brady

Questing Home is the third installment in a memorable series. The books share the journey of the author in her search for herself. Like many women, Marilyn was brought up with very traditional ways of thinking and behaving. She married young and essentially put her dreams on hold to raise children and support her husband in his budding law career. A typical people pleaser, her life was about making others happy and appearing perfect.

Somewhere deep inside, Marilyn realized something was very wrong. At the time, she assumed that the wrong was somehow her fault. That perhaps she wasn’t doing enough or that there was something about her that needed to be fixed.

In the first book in the Questing series, Questing Marilyn, Marilyn goes away on vacation to Britain and Ireland with a group of women. It is during this time, that she starts to feel the first glimpses of her empowered self. Eager to share her newfound confidence, she returns home only to find out that her husband has been having an affair with one of her friends.

Book two, Questing France, follows Marilyn as she tries to rebuild her marriage. Marilyn wants a solid foundation for her family. Her husband says the affair is over and he’s willing to work on the marriage.

As Questing Home begins, Marilyn notices some odd changes in her husband’s behavior. Old patterns seem to be resurfacing. At first, Marilyn hopes that she is just being paranoid but she soon learns that the affair never really ended. In fact, the only reason her husband wanted to reconcile was so that he could get the upper hand in financial negations for the divorce settlement.

Questing Home, and indeed the whole Questing series, illustrates the inner strength that we all possess deep within. Without even recognizing its value, the majority of us tend to give away our power. We allow ourselves to be guided and even coerced according to someone else’s agenda. We even accept emotional abuse without a second thought.

But, as Marilyn teaches us, we have a choice. We can stand up to bullying. We can speak our truth. We can build something better. Thank you, Marilyn!