She knew they would only have a few fleeting months together, but in that time Sarah's unborn daughter would transform her understanding of beauty, worth, and the gift of life. Happily married and teaching history at the University of Oxford, Sarah Williams had credentials, success, and knowledge. It took someone who would never have any of these things to teach her what it means to be human. This extraordinary true story begins with the welcome news of a new member of the Williams family. Sarah's husband, Paul, and their two young daughters share her excitement. But the happiness is short-lived, as a hospital scan reveals a lethal skeletal dysplasia. Birth will be fatal. Sarah and Paul decide to carry the baby to term, a decision that shocks medical staff and Sarah's professional colleagues. Sarah and Paul find themselves having to defend their child's dignity and worth against incomprehension and at times open hostility. They name their daughter, Cerian, Welsh for "loved one." Sarah writes, "Cerian is not a strong religious principle or a rule that compels me to make hard and fast ethical decisions. She is a beautiful person who is teaching me to love the vulnerable, treasure the unlovely, and face fear with dignity and hope." In this candid and vulnerable account, Sarah brings the reader along with her on the journey towards Cerian's birthday and her deathday. It's rare enough to find a writer who can share such a heart-stretching personal experience without sounding sappy, but here is one who at the same time has the ability to articulate the broader cultural issues raised by Cerian's story. In a society striving for perfection, where worth is earned, identity is constructed, children are a choice, normal is beautiful, and deformity is repulsive, Cerian's short life raises vital questions about what we value and where we are headed as a culture. Perfectly Human was first published in the United Kingdom as The Shaming of the Strong. This edition includes a new afterword by the author.

Author interviews and publicity. Partnerships and promotions with support groups. Extensive giveaways: Galleys and early copies distributed through NetGalley, Edelwiess, GoodReads and Library Thing. Feature in Plough Quarterly magazine, circulation 15,000 Featured on Plough's email lists, combined reach 60,000 Extensive social media campaign.

About the Author
Sarah C. Williams trained as an historian at the University of Oxford, where she subsequently taught British and European political and cultural history. After seventeen years at Oxford, in 2005 she moved with her family to Vancouver, Canada, where she taught history at Regent College. Today Williams lives with her husband Paul in the Cotswolds, close to the city of Oxford, where she continues her research, writing, and teaching. The daughter of popular British author Jennifer Rees Larcombe, Williams is the author of Perfectly Human, a spiritual autobiography in which she reflects on contemporary debates surrounding identity and personhood.

Reviews
"One of the most profound, insightful, tender, sensitive, though-provoking books I have read in a long time."-Janet Parshall, Talk Show Host
"Readers will be touched by Williams's story of perseverance, faith, and love."-Publishers Weekly
"It would be a mistake to characterize this book merely as a grief memoir. Williams shifts seamlessly between intimate reflections on love in the midst of tragic loss and incisive commentary on the social structures that framed her experience.... This is an important word for t hose of us wrestling with suffering and struggling for hope."-Christianity Today
"Williams shows us--and perhaps especially those in similar circumstances, having lost a child to miscarriage or stillbirth--that love can triumph even in such agonizing situations. Love remains love, and it remains infinitely precious, even if it's given for only nine months and seared through with pain. If you haven't read it, get Perfectly Human. Then give it away: Like love, it deserves sharing."-John Grondelski, The Human Life Review
"This poignant book tells how a British husband and wife discover their unborn daughter has a catastrophic abnormality that will result in certain death. Against the advice of their doctors, they choose to carry the baby to term.... Sarah Williams describes how God drew near to them in their suffering. She notes the ways modern culture dehumanizes the unborn, de-emphasizes fathers, and delights in the perfect."-WORLD Magazine


Awards
Winner of Christianity Today Book Award, CT Women 2022 and Christianity Today Book Award, CT Women 2019 and Christianity Today Book Award, CT Women 2021 and Christianity Today Book Award, CT Women 2020. Runner-up for Illumination Awards 2021 and Illumination Awards 2020 and Illumination Awards 2019 and Illumination Awards 2022.



Book Information
ISBN 9780874866698
Author Sarah C. Williams
Format Paperback
Page Count 160
Imprint Plough Publishing House
Publisher Plough Publishing House