A SECOND UNIVERSE is a memoir-in-essays that traces the author’s coming of age and her pursuit of self-discovery, belonging, and healing in all its forms. The book opens in the past, diving into the lives of the author’s parents before she was born and shedding light on the many obstacles they overcame to bring her earth-side. Set against the backdrop of the Southern Utah deserts and the clarity the author finds in the natural world, these essays wind through the author’s different childhood homes, down the lonely and desolate road of a sister’s addiction, and into the darkness that comes as she braces for her father’s impending blindness. Similar to Brenda Miller’s LISTENING AGAINST THE STONE, this collection explores the inherent desire for human connection and spiritual insight that we search for in the places we live, the people we love, and the nature that surrounds us.