{"product_id":"perfectly-human-nine-months-with-cerian-9780874866698","title":"Perfectly Human: Nine Months with Cerian","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eShe 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.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHappily married and teaching history at the University of Oxford, \u003c\/b\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis extraordinary true story\u003c\/b\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSarah 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.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn this candid and vulnerable account, \u003c\/b\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePerfectly Human\u003c\/i\u003e was first published in the United Kingdom as\u003ci\u003e The Shaming of the Strong.\u003c\/i\u003e This edition includes a new afterword by the author.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWilliams, Sarah C.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eSarah C. Williams\u003c\/b\u003e 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 \u003ci\u003ePerfectly Human, \u003c\/i\u003e a spiritual autobiography in which she reflects on contemporary debates surrounding identity and personhood.","brand":"Plough Publishing House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50523913421074,"sku":"9780874866698","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9287ceae-abe8-4701-a643-7cf2bfe4f20c.jpg?v=1731171031","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/perfectly-human-nine-months-with-cerian-9780874866698","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}