The Rose Bruce Literary Circle
Dr. Rose Bruce (Lynda Rose Bruce, PhD/EdD) is a lifelong educator and researcher who spent nearly three decades at Sonoma State University, where she worked in psychometrics, institutional research, and later served in senior administrative roles. She earned a B.A.
my books
The Gift of Sobriety: A Spiritual Transformation
Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous. In that tradition, the author has decided to withhold her last name on this book which chronicles her gradual spiritual transformation from the first day she walked into an AA meeting until nine months later. It includes dreams, personal accounts of spiritual experiences, and reflections on topics discussed in AA as well as in books that the author found helpful in her spiritual quest that began well before AA. This sensitive account is meaningful to anyone who may have deep spiritual longing. The author gradually moves from feeling totally broken to a life of renewal and hope.
My Spiritual Unfolding: Science of Mind
“With beginner’s mind, Dr. Rose Bruce takes us on a journey of discovery as she describes her first fifteen months of studying the Science of Mind philosophy at the Center for Spiritual Living in Santa Rosa, California. She details her thoughts and experiences as she learns and applies new principles to her life leading to freedom from fear and a greater awareness of spirituality in her life. With clarity and insight, Dr. Bruce translates complex concepts into everyday application to her life. Her journey is truly inspiring.
Pandemic: A Call to Love
Dr. Rose Bruce is a professional Social Science researcher with thirty years experience writing research reports and books on research and spiritual awareness. Through this lens, she describes her personal and professional reaction to the unfolding of the Covid-19 Pandemic from March 21, 2020 to May 14, 2020. During these eight weeks of “shelter in place” living, Dr. Bruce recounts daily news updates, inspirational readings, thoughts and feelings as the Covid-19 virus spread across the United States and the world. Included are charts of the cases and deaths in the U.S. and the world.
Writing about alcoholism, the struggles associated with it, and recovery is no easy task. Yet, Rose B. has dealt with it with not only taste and balance, but with unwavering bravery and openness. Her strength of character shines through the pages.
We are taken through Rose’s life, which is important when dealing with topics of this weight, as it reminds us that something as serious as alcoholism doesn’t come from nowhere or out of the blue, but is rather an influence of our surroundings and the people in our lives. We go through her childhood, her early marriage, and feelings of inadequacy and loneliness throughout her adult life.
It’s special to find a book about hard, harrowing topics that isn’t inherently negative or hopeless. The narrative is indeed serious and heart-wrenching at times, but it is also happy and life-affirming at other times. You take away a strong feeling of “things get better” from this memoir.
It’s significant that the author has omitted her surname, and not just because it is often important for members of Alcoholic Anonymous forums and a driving force behind people’s willingness to speak up. It’s significant too because even though it is a deeply personal story, it resonates with human experience and I’m sure a number of people will read it as a parable and inspiration rather than simply one woman’s story. So by not including her surname, we are reminded that this is a problem facing society at large as well as the individual.
The Gift of Sobriety by Rose B. is a book that began as a journal when Rose started to face up to her alcoholism. A hugely personal account it not only charts Rose’s personal struggles through the 12 Step Process but ultimately provides guidance to others struggling with this disease.
Perhaps one of the biggest eye-openers when reading this book is realizing that Rose is not the type of person most of us tend to associate with this disease!
A thoroughly strong person from a very early age, despite having so many curve-balls thrown at her, Rose continues to gain her Bachelors and a Master Degree. She even persists in holding down a very successful and well-respected career throughout, finally achieving her doctorate!
Yet, a couple of relationships, some problematic and some heart-rendering, prove to be her biggest challenges and perhaps the principal part of her turning to drink as a means of comfort.
A raw but utterly real account, it does work to make the reader question how easily the spiral is once this disease takes hold – more so the power needed to overcome it completely.
A pleasure to be allowed access to intensely private thoughts, you can’t help but commend Rose on her brutal honesty and a telling of how it is, while offering thanks for sharing this personal journey with the reader.