Long Island, New York resident, Patricia Leudeman Chiappa is a woman of faith and courage. But her past has been full of heartache, pain and dark secrets. Raised by hard-working and wonderful parents, Patricia witnessed things in her young life that would make the horrors of war look like Disneyland. When she was young both her parents lost their jobs, the family was forced into lower income housing- called Homestead Village, located in Coram, N.Y. When the family moved there, they didn't know the area was overrun by drug dealers, hookers, and crime. The family's apartment was once a crack house. Patricia was nearly abducted and raped at 11 years old, she witnessed her father being threatened with a man with a gun, her brother get beat up, and her mother threaten. In spite of that her family clung to their faith. Besides the nightmare of living in that area, Patricia struggled with learning disabilities, being brutally bullied, staked and being the victim of Identity Fraud. Patricia has also had life-threating health issues, lost four babies to miscarriage and was abused by an ex-fianc . In spite of this, Patricia has turned all these tragic events in her life to blessings. Read about how Patricia, now a best-selling writer overcame dyslexia, a traumatic brain injury from two strokes and concussion and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Read about she found the love of her life after a failed engagement, how she found faith in the mists of pain, and forgiven her abusers. Please buy a copy of this book as a way of helping others overcome abuse. This book was first published in 2013 by Tate Publishing under the name Sassy Angel, but since Tate Publishing closed it's doors this book has been out of print. Now it's back and better then ever. Read the 100 plus 5 star reviews on the amazon website for the version released by Tate reviews below: ByJames Monticoneon November 10, 2013 Format: Kindle Edition - Verified Purchase I don't usually read memoirs, so at first I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this book. At times, I was a little skeptical about the extreme nature of parts of this woman's story, but then I would remind myself of a friend who has been through tough times and is also working on a memoir of sorts, and how much of his story also seems unreal. There are parts that seem a bit exaggerated, like when the author was a child and she had a vision of Jesus with one of her family members who was undergoing surgery. He spoke very formally, and it struck me as the author trying to get a message across, but then again, I wasn't there. I do believe that this author has experienced pain and miracles, and has a remarkable story to tell. There were times when I wanted to be there to confront the bullies, and when I felt a lot of sympathy for her struggles. Despite my natural tendency toward cynicism, anyone who enjoys this kind of book will get a lot out of Beautiful Scars. If you're a Christian, or even just curious about how Christians view the world, this one's for you. There are two highlights I feel I should point out, and these boosted the value of the book immensely: There is a collection of pictures about halfway through which show various people in the author's life who are referenced throughout the work, including the author herself, and I thought this was a real treat. There is also an account of the author's experience during 9/11 (we all pretty much know where we were when it happened). She was in New York; not a direct witness to the events, but she was connected to people who were involved in the rescue efforts. It's always interesting to know where people were at that time and what they were doing. In short, I can give this book my seal of approval. Enjoy