"Rise: How a House Built a Family" by Cara Brookins--This must-read memoir traces one family’s rise from battered victims to stronger, better versions of themselves, all through one extraordinary do-it-yourself project

Rise: How a House Built a Family  by Cara Brookins

Extraordinary true story of a woman taking the greatest risk of her life in order to heal from the unthinkable...  

After escaping an abusive marriage, Cara Brookins had four children to provide for and no one to turn to but herself. In desperate need of a home but without the means to buy one, she did something incredible.

Equipped only with YouTube instructional videos, a small bank loan, a mile-wide stubborn streak, Cara built her own house from the foundation up with a work crew made up of her four children.

It would be the hardest thing she had ever done. With no experience nailing together anything bigger than a bookshelf, she and her kids poured concrete, framed the walls and laid bricks for their two story, five bedroom house. She had convinced herself that if they could build a house, they could rebuild their broken family.

This must-read memoir traces one family’s rise from battered victims to stronger, better versions of themselves, all through one extraordinary do-it-yourself project.

Reviews

“An inspiring memoir of absolute determination.” --Kirkus Reviews

"This rousing memoir beautifully illustrates how one family can look apprehension dead in the eye and scoff at it. For readers looking for inspiration to accomplish a daunting task, they need look no further than Brookins’ highly engaging and encouraging book." ―Booklist

"A tough, honest memoir. Brookins deftly narrates the extreme learning curve her family experienced while putting a family back together again." ―Publishers Weekly

"Cara Brookins did something remarkable with her life: She turned trauma into power and fear into courage. She refused to be a victim anymore. In powerful ways, her extraordinary memoir, Rise, tells the story of her resurrection from victim of domestic abuse to bad-ass mom with a hammer and carpenter’s square. You will be enlightened. You will be inspired. You will cheer her on as she builds a new home and a new life for herself and her four children ― one brick at a time." ― John Grogan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Marley & Me

"If Rise were a novel, the plot―woman escapes domestic violence to build her own house, assisted only by her children and YouTube videos―would seem impossibly far-fetched. But Cara Brookins actually lived this story, and reading her account of it slowly filled me to the brim with admiration, hope, and belief that a determined human can do practically anything. Rise is a compelling story, lovingly told, that will uplift and inspire readers whatever their circumstances." ― Martha Beck, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Your Own North Star

"Sometimes the universe puts us in a bad place and dares us to fight our way out. Cara Brookins did just this. We should all be as strong as her. This book will provide the powerful imagery and guidance for a generation of people who need to change their lives." ― Tom Hart, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Rosalie Lightning

"This inspiring real-life story that's all the more amazing because it's true. Readers will be both spellbound and lifted by it." --David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author

"Telling a story like Rise takes guts. It also takes talent, which Cara has in spades. To paraphrase Sondheim, she made a house, where there never was a house. And then she wrote this memorable book about it. Believe me, it's pretty rare for those skill sets to overlap." --Laura Lippman, New York Times bestselling author of After I'm Gone

"Readers will be torn between believing Cara is a one-of-a-kind hero, and that anyone can be. At once heartbreaking and deeply inspiring, in Rise, Cara proves to herself, her children, and the rest of the world that strength comes from within and can be rebuilt, brick by brick. --Hilary Liftin, co-author of the New York Times bestseller sTORI Telling

"It has been a very long time since I have read a book as singular and as profoundly moving as Rise. Rise, by turns daunting and uplifting, gives new meaning to the concepts of heroism and sacrifice, and it is a remarkable construct in itself." --Les Standiford, author of Water to the Angels

"An uplifting story of resilience." --Real Simple Magazine

"Rise takes readers along on a transformative journey...all readers can find inspiration in Brookins’ endeavor." --BookPage

 

Cara Brookins

 

"Yes, my kids and I actually built it with our own hands. Not because we knew how, or because a single other person thought it was a sane idea. We built a house because we needed a radical move to shift our trajectory toward a better life. It would be the hardest thing we'd ever done. The kids were 17, 15, 11, and 2. Together we poured the concrete, framed walls, laid bricks, ran gas lines of our two story, five bedroom house. We knew if we could build a house through one extraordinary do-it-yourself project, we could rebuild our broken family."

Cara Brookins is a computer analyst and social media marketing expert based in Little Rock. You can read more about her, as well as see shots of her home and family at http://www.carabrookins.com/. Her memoir, Rise: How a House Built a Family details the house she built with her children after they had left a domestic violence situation. She is also the author of seven middle grade and young adult novels and one adult novel.