The struggle with mental health. Living the Christian faith. The two should not be divorced but at the same time they do not live together comfortably.

Silence details the story of the author's journey through Post Traumatic Stress Disorder stemming from a critical incident in a school, through dark nights of questioning and out the other side. Combining the walk of faith, with his experiences as a drama teacher and love of music, literature, movies, running the beach and dogs, this is an honest grappling account of how the author reconciled what is often seen as the defeat of PTSD with the expected victory of the Christian faith.

Teacher, Andrew Pearce, shares his spiritual journey through PTSD after rescuing a student who attempted suicide, his painful struggles, the challenges he faced, and the healing he found that helped him to move forward through the years that followed.

Through Silence, Pearce offers us such a generous and intimate reflection of a day that would change everything- and the long, dark journey through the trauma that it created. It is a devastating yet life-affirming account.

• Charlie Lowell, Jars of Clay

With varied experiences in education, psychology, counselling, drama teaching with kids on the autism spectrum and theatre directing, Andrew lives on idyllic Hindmarsh Island, South Australia with his wife Sally and one of his sons, Josh. Vocationally, he spends his time these days working as a disability counsellor. He still runs his beach when his battered feet allow and also enjoys writing, songwriting, veggie gardening and wrestling with acoustic guitar and piano. He is yet to find a dog to rival Maggie but makes it a point of introducing himself to every dog that crosses his path and listening to their story.