Laurel is a young woman who is sad and depressed about her mom's health and her father's affair. At her high school graduation party, she flirts with Brad, who flirts back and then takes her home. Her father gets angry with her and asks if Laurel has prayed that day. Laurel is invited to Brad's house where he gives her a glass of wine and some particular smelling brown cigarettes. When she starts feeling funny, he takes her to his bedroom to check something on the computer. He throws her on the bed and rapes her. When Laurel gets home, the traumatized girl learns that her mom died at the hospital that same day, and her father reveals that he plans to marry his mistress three days after his wife's funeral. Laurel is shocked and she cannot stand the young woman her father makes her new step-mother. Laurel's life takes some strange turns in the powerful novel The Christian Life I Knew Not, but in the end she finds self-reliance as she tries to follow her faith in the Lord. About the Author: Cheryl R. Johnson of Richmond, Virginia, is a personal care attendant who works with seniors. She and her husband John have two sons, Marzell and Jacob. This is her first book. She is currently working on her next book, Break the Chain of Prejudice.