Monique Gray Smith's ​Sharing the Light: Stories and Reflections

Reviewed by Joyce Bou Charaa

(House of Anansi Press, 2026)

In her latest book, Sharing The Light, Monique Gray Smith invites us to embrace the light within us through five transformative practices: gratitude, love, joy, happiness, and hope. These practices can nourish our spirits and attract light into our lives. They also fill us with energy so that we can share it with others. Through inspiring personal stories, reflections, and wisdom, Smith encourages readers to reflect on their lives and consider how they can share their own light with the world. At its heart, the book is about “ensuring there is always a room in our hearts, minds, and spirits to create, share, and receive light.”

Smith first conceived the idea for the book in 2023, when her mother was living with dementia. During this difficult period in her life, she found light in writing and sharing stories. The book offers a perspective on navigating life’s challenges by finding gratitude, love, and joy in everyday moments.

Starting with gratitude, Smith says that she owes much of her light to the people who have come into her life to help, care for, and support her. She recounts a vacation to the Dominican Republic with a friend, where some stranger offered invaluable assistance to them as two young women exploring the place for the first time. Gratitude, in this case, is for the kindness and generosity of that person. Smith encourages readers to find gratitude in such moments and in the people who help create them.

In the section on love, Smith speaks candidly about her alcohol addiction at the age of twenty-two. At a time when both her body and soul were suffering, her college friend Kelly stepped in with love and care, helping her choose recovery and save herself from further harm. “Love is medicine,” Smith writes. Had it not been for Kelly and the people closest to her, she might have found herself drowning in addiction, abandoned and alone. Love, ultimately, helped save her life forever.
 
One of my favorite stories in this section is “A Steadfast Love”, which recounts the story of her divorced parents. Despite their separation and the pain they experienced, they were buried next to each other on a mountaintop after their deaths, as if love endures despite hurt and loss. It is a deeply emotional story that offers a powerful lesson about the enduring nature of love.

Moving to joy, Smith argues that it can be found in life’s small, simple moments, even amid the darkest times. Joy comes in waves, often appearing when we need it the most. In one story, she recounts a moment when her father was on his deathbed, suffering from cancer. When Monique gave him a chocolate ice cream, a smile spread across his face. This brief moment of joy brought light into a dark time and offered him a sense of comfort amid his pain.

Unlike joy, which often appears in fleeting moments, Smith believes that happiness can emerge from a cherished moment that changes a person’s life forever. It can stem from a turning point or a life-changing decision that transforms the spirit and nourishes the heart, leaving a lasting impact on how we see ourselves and the world around us.

Hope, for Smith, is the belief that tomorrow can be better than today and that every storm will eventually pass, giving way to brighter days. It is the force that keeps us moving forward even in moments of grief, uncertainty, and hardship. As she writes, “Hope is the helium deep inside us that gives us the strength we need to ensure we do not collapse on ourselves.”
​
Sharing The Light is a deeply personal reflection in which Monique Gray Smith shares her life experience to offer readers a glimmer of hope and light in difficult times. Through stories of gratitude, love, joy, happiness, and hope, she encourages us to seek the light within ourselves and in the world around us. Her wisdom and insights serve as a gentle guide for those searching for a more meaningful and compassionate way of living.

---

​Joyce Bou Charaa is a Lebanese freelance writer and book editor, with a keen interest in writing about literature, culture, and history.