To Heaven and Back

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Manufacturer: Mary C. Neal, MD
Brand: Non-fiction
Brew: Paperback
Steeping Time: 240 pages
Tea Service: Personal Choice
Strength:

Synopsis: In 1999 in the Los Rios region of southern Chile, orthopedic surgeon, devoted wife, and loving mother Dr. Mary Neal drowned in a kayak accident. While cascading down a waterfall, her kayak became pinned at the bottom and she was immediately and completely submerged. Despite the rescue efforts of her companions, Mary was underwater for too long, and as a result, died.

To Heaven and Back is Mary’s remarkable story of her life’s spiritual journey and what happened as she moved from life to death to eternal life, and back again. Detailing her feelings and surroundings in heaven, her communication with angels, and her deep sense of sadness when she realized it wasn’t her time, Mary shares the captivating experience of her modern-day miracle.

I’ve always been fascinated by stories of near-death experiences.

Personally, I’ve always believed there is something bigger than me and that there’s got to be something after we die. I simply cannot believe that this one life is all we get. This particular book about a near-death experience has been on my bookshelf for nearly a decade. I, like many of you, I’m sure, have to be in the right mood to pick up certain books, and To Heaven and Back was no different. I finally snagged it off the shelf because I was looking for something short and non-fiction to read after inhaling I Was Anastasia. Somehow I thought reading about dying would be lighter than reading about other people dying. Seriously. What’s wrong with me?

In this book, Mary recounts her life, her experience during and after death, and her life after that experience. When I read the synopsis, I realized I already knew how this all went. A few months ago, I watched a series on Netflix called Surviving Death. In the first episode, Mary tells her story. I was hoping that her book would go into greater detail than what I’d already seen, and I was happy that it did.

Her life is quite interesting and I think she does a splendid job of laying it all out in her book.

The details of her drowning and what she remembers from that are hard to read but are also incredible. Her story, like many others, is fascinating. It carries many of the same core themes that other near-death experiences have. Leaving your body, seeing the entire situation from above, loved ones welcoming you to the afterlife, a crushing depression and sense of loss upon returning. Even though it mirrors many of the other stories I’ve read like this, I was still engaged and interested throughout the entire book.

My biggest complaint about this book has nothing to do with the story or the writing; it’s with the editing. Chunks are missing throughout the book. A sentence or two here, half a sentence there. And it didn’t happen just once. There are quite a few places in the book where you turn the page and think you’ve missed something. There was enough there that I could piece it together, but it would have been nice not to have to do that.

If you aren’t a heavily religious person, this book might not be up your alley. Mary was religious before her experience, so God and church are mentioned often throughout. I didn’t feel that it was too preachy, but I used to be heavily involved in church, and my first husband was a preacher, so it all felt like normal talk to me. However, if you’re into spirituality or believe in any type of afterlife, I think you’ll enjoy To Heaven and Back. This book was a quick and engaging read and I think many people will find it interesting. I may not know what awaits us on the other side of this life, but I enjoy reading books that might drop a hint or two.

Have you read To Heaven and Back? Leave a comment and let me know what you thought about it! Want to read it for yourself? Click here to get a copy of your own.
Cheers,
Lydia