Behind
the Shades is an autobiography of Shelia Raye Charles, one of the
daughters of the best-selling musical artist Ray Charles. Throughout the book,
she opened up candidly about her estranged relationship with her father. She
didn’t meet her father until she was fourteen years old. Her father was always driven
by success and maintaining his business career. He was continually busy and he
didn’t take the time to connect with his children enough. Shelia Charles
resented her father and was very bitter for his lack of caring about his
children. She distinguished that her father felt guilty for his brother’s
death. Ray Charles’ mother repetitively berated him and stated that she was
making him stronger because he was blind. She also tried to get a foot in the
recording business and her father would make empty promises to help but wouldn’t
follow through.
To say the very least, the book publicized the dramatic
truth of Shelia’s dark past. She took readers through the journey of being arrested
for the third time. She struggled with being addicted to drugs. She admitted to
having low self-esteem and she would put up with a man who cheated on her. They
also had a few children together. She shared a heartbreaking story about how he
was gone for two days and he came back demanding for some money. At first, she
refused to give him any. But she began to have labor pains and she eventually
had to give him some where he would take her to the hospital. After, she
arrived at the hospital and they check on the baby’s health, the doctors discovered
that she had cocaine in her system. She knew she was losing another child to
the state again. The baby girl was thankfully born fine. Ultimately in prison, Sheila
Charles became closer to God and she let Him slowly begin to heal her father
wounds.
I would recommend this remarkable book to anyone who
enjoys an exceptional book about how God can take and use our past mistakes and
turn it into something good. I appreciated how Sheila Raye Charles was transparent
and she didn’t hold back in revealing excruciating details about her struggles
and her dilemma with her father. The book did contain a great deal of personal information
and some readers may at times be uncomfortable. I immensely loved the intricate
depletion of her experiences and treatments of being in prison. I felt it could
tremendously encourage people who are struggling with drugs that freedom is
possible. If you’re looking for an inspiration book, with a message engrained of
triumph, and overcoming a drug addiction, then this book is for you!
“I received this book for free from Cross
Focused Reviews / Vox Dei for this review”.
If you would like to purchase a
copy of Behind the Shades, then check it out on Amazon.com:
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