Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

Detour: Lose Your Way, Find Your Path by S. Mariah Rose is a fascinating autobiography of one woman’s search for her destiny and her purpose on this planet. Sara had always rejected her parents' strict New England upbringing and sought to forge her own path and direction in life. This rebellion was reflected in an early journey of drugs, alcohol, and casual sexual relationships. When she met and married Michael, it seemed that at last she was going to settle down but an ordinary, stereotypical, suburban life was not for her. At her best friend’s urgings, Sara and Michael go west; first to Colorado and eventually to the mystical and magical lands of New Mexico and Santa Fe. As her marriage falls apart, Sara embarks on a journey of self-discovery and enlightenment that will expose her to many practices, across many faiths, sampling and adopting those that would help her on her journey and most importantly her fervent desire to find her path and ultimately to be of use and helpful to others.

Detour was an exhilarating read for me, especially since Sara was embracing and adopting many of the same concepts and fundamentals of life that we have been exploring of late. Author S. Mariah Rose has opened herself to her core and explored and narrated her innermost emotions to readers. She has not painted a rosy, cozy journey to enlightenment but has given the realistic and sometimes harsh truths that she discovered along the way. I appreciated the insight, especially about the relationships and attachments that were highlighted. So often it is these attachments that stop us from reaching our true destinations. Sara was able to discern and deal rationally with these emotional hooks albeit with a great deal of pain, angst, and self-recrimination. What I loved most about this story was the author’s sheer honesty and willingness to expose her inner self to readers. There is no glossing over the suffering, the soul-searching, and the self-criticism. She shows that all this is necessary if we are to find our true direction in life. I particularly enjoyed her embrace of many different philosophies and the realization that each of these ideals and lifestyles has something to offer us and that at their core there are some immutable truths. I am now fascinated to know how the next stage of her life and self-development progressed and I hope she is already writing the next chapter of this journey. This book lifted my spirits, gave me hope, and showed me a fascinating journey. I can highly recommend this book.