Psychic: My Life in Two Worlds »

SYLVIA BROWNE is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Two Marys, Psychic Children, The Mystical Life of Jesus, Insight, Phenomenon, and other bestsellers. She has been working as a psychic for five decades and appears regularly on The Montel Williams Show. She has also appeared on Larry King Live, Good Morning America, CNN, and Entertainment Tonight. She lives in California and works alongside her son, Chris, who has inherited his mother's psychic abilities.

At the age of seventy-three, New York Times bestselling author Sylvia Browne is ready to reveal the woman behind the public figure: from the teenager doubting her own sanity to the new mother living through staggering highs and lows; from the burgeoning celebrity to the successful, happily married woman she is today. Filled with never-before-told stories, Psychic is a riveting account of how Sylvia Shoemaker, a traditional girl from Missouri, became world-famous psychic Sylvia Browne.

Nothing is off-limits. She tells the little-known truths behind her three failed marriages-including physical abuse, bankruptcy, and legal troubles-and the financial and emotional damage they wreaked. She revisits her personal demons and describes her physical challenges. While the press has freely, often bitterly, weighed in on Sylvia's most painful stories, she has remained quiet-until now. With candor, warmth, and humor, Sylvia Browne has written the singularly captivating tale of a life lived in two worlds, filled equally with harsh earthly realities and mesmerizing spiritual insights.

Publishers Weekly

Sylvia Celeste Shoemaker was born into what she describes as a 300-year psychic family legacy. Inheriting her gifts directly from her Grandmother Ada, her psychic abilities would lead to best selling books, including The Other Side and Back, numerous tapings of The Montel Williams Show and Larry King Live, and even a guest appearance on The Young and The Restless. With humor, candor, and clarity, Shoemaker, founder of the Novus Spiritus Gnostic Christian Church, shares everything from doppelgängers to past lives. Even non-believers may find her life surprisingly traditional; after ending an abusive first marriage, she grounded herself in family, the study of theology and psychology, teaching, and raising her two sons. Her zest and passion for life in this world and beyond is evident on every page and photos of Browne with her family and friends like actress Shirley MacLaine accentuate her rich, unusual journey. (June)

Preface ix

1 Growing Up Psychic 1

2 The White Picket Fence 50

3 For Sale: One Used White Picket Fence 87

4 Ghost Stories 125

5 A Band of Angels 175

6 Spirits, Readings, and Audiotapes 188

7 My Version of Health Care 229

8 Broadening Horizons 244

9 Another Beginning, Another Ending 271

10 More Hellos, More Good-byes 287

11 How Long Has This Been Going On? 322

Afterword 343

Acknowledgments 347