Being Elisabeth Elliot: The Authorized Biography: Elisabeth’s Later Years Hardcover – September 12, 2023

This is a well written and interesting story of Elisabeth Elliot. As a Christian, I really enjoyed reading her story.

My favorite biographies are not only exhaustively researched, solidly set in their cultural context, and masterfully written, but they’re also faithful to tell the whole truth about their subjects—from the inspiring (which first drew us to them) to the deeply disappointing (which reminds us they’re just like us).Ellen Vaughn does this with incomparable courage and love in “Being Elisabeth Elliot.” She deals with the surprising and even disturbing aspects of Elliot’s later life with tender truthfulness, constantly reminding her readers that—“We long for heroes without complexity, heroes without aspects that we just don’t like and can’t admire. We want…the noble, gleaming statue without the pigeon poop.“But among human heroes, these just do not exist.“There is only one Hero who does not disappoint. As for the rest of us, we must be strangely content to see people as they are, courageous and terrified, noble and petty, discerning and blind. In it all, among the best of our lot, there is plenty to admire and plenty to strive for; the rest is simply cause, as always, to look to God and praise Him for His amazing grace that He would save “wretches like us”... Our legacies as individuals are not so much about the trophies we win in our short lives, because that so easily leads to pride. Rather, the legacy of our brokenness and need for Christ highlights His eternal, golden mercies.“We are all beggars. Vagrants. Bums. Yet what awaits us is the great Feast of grace God offers on the other side, where…Elisabeth Elliot and a host of other imperfect heroes sit today, passing the platters and praising the Lord.”I HIGHLY recommend this book to everyone—but especially to those who have either revered OR resented Elliot; widows, singles, missionaries, Christian leaders; those who love the Church but grieve the brokenness of evangelical culture; and anyone facing cancer (their own or their loved one’s).Thank you, Mrs. Vaughn, for bearing the burden of telling us this hard but helpful story. You are a gift to all of us fellow “beggars, vagrants, and bums who await the great Feast of grace on the other side.”

Ellen Vaughn is a talented writer, and, as is typical with her work, this book is beautifully written.As is evidenced in other reviews, this book is a difficult read. It explores some of the more painful and not well-known aspects of Elisabeth's life. It is not the white-washed story of a "hero" of the faith, wrapped in a neat little bow, that most of us long for. Yet, these types of honest stories are important for us to hear.Reading the final chapters of the book and learning of the painful and often abusive marriage Elisabeth endured during the closing decades of her life made me a bit sick. However, Ellen Vaughn did a masterful job relaying these truths. Right from the introduction, she made clear that she had uncovered many painful revelations about Elisabeth Elliot's life, and she wrestled with how to convey them with grace and truth to an evangelical world that would not relish such truths.Other reviews of this book claim Vaughn should have spent more time focusing on Elisabeth's later years of writing and speaking. However, this is the Authorized Biography, meaning it is derived mainly from Elisabeth's personal communications (journals, letters, etc.). And, as Vaughn made clear in the closing chapters, upon Elisabeth's death, her husband burned most of her journals and written communication from the period of their marriage.I write all this to say, this is a 5-star book. It is not the story that the Evangelical world craves, but it is a report of the truth with both grace and love. And, as Elisabeth Elliot herself would desire, it is a painful reminder that sin taints every part of this fallen world and our hope is only and always in Jesus.

Such an honest portrayal of a Godly woman. I feel like the author did a good job of reminding us of Elizabeth's humanity and vulnerability. She was a woman, with trials and temptations just like the rest of us. But overall, she loved God, and tried valiantly to always look to God for direction, and to follow His leading in her life.

I just loved this book even though I wept for the suffering that Elizabeth endured through her life. Not being allowed to see her grandchildren regularly? Totally submissive to a man who controlled her. And her faith withstood it all. I loved her when she was living. Even got to introduce her one time. Now I understand why she could come off as a little cold and abrasive. Her heart was pure gold.

I thought the first book in this set ("Becoming Elisabeth Elliott") was simply beautiful. It was a great comfort to find that one of my heroes of the faith was indeed accessible to the rest of us. I had no idea how accessible and very, very REAL she would turn out to be in the second book, "Being Elisabeth Elliott." The author delves even more deeply into Elisabeth's journals (and does other extensive research) to paint a very complicated and deeply authentic picture of the essence of who EE was. In spite of her genuinely human flaws, her love for the Lord shines through -- her brilliance and courage, her loves and losses, her fierce devotion to truth and to following the Father -- her life!When I was young, I prayed a perhaps silly yet sincere prayer: to be like Elisabeth Elliot, but without all that pesky suffering. It turns out, the difficulty and the growth are inexorably intertwined. In this book we learn that Elisabeth was both very familiar with difficulty, and unimpressed with tidy endings. I believe that she would be wholly satisfied with the untidy ending of this biography, and would urge the reader to "find as much of its meaning as he [or she] can." As I see so much of my own life reflected here, it is sweet encouragement that she stayed faithful to the end.