Rise: How a House Built a Family

The magnificent true story of a woman who, after losing everything, found a way to heal and build a new life

Cara Brookins escaped an abusive marriage with 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, and a mile-wide stubborn streak, Cara built her own house from the foundation up with a work crew composed 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.