A memoir of survival, second chances, faith, and the road back to hope

Hope still walks, even when the road feels impossible.

In The Day Hope Walked Five Miles, Martha Thorne Reed shares a deeply personal story of fear, survival, unexpected love, grief, grace, and the courage to keep taking one more step.

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For anyone who has ever wondered if it is too late to begin again.

The Book

The road that changed everything

On an October afternoon in 1986, a man walked five miles down a quiet Indiana road with one thought in his heart: he needed to get to her.

That walk became more than distance. It became a turning point — the beginning of a story shaped by survival, faith, love, loss, and the long journey of becoming.

The Day Hope Walked Five Miles is Martha Thorne Reed’s intimate memoir of a life rebuilt through courage, grace, and the people who refused to give up on her. From childhood between cultures to years of fear, from unexpected love to profound grief, Martha shows that hope does not always arrive loudly. Sometimes it walks quietly toward us, one step at a time.

  • Survival
  • Second Chances
  • Faith & Grace
  • Love After Fear
  • Grief & Healing
  • Finding Your Value
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Three dimensional mockup of The Day Hope Walked Five Miles

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Martha Thorne Reed, author of The Day Hope Walked Five Miles, smiling at her desk with an ocean view

About the Author

Meet Martha Thorne Reed

Martha Thorne Reed is a non-traditional, first-generation college graduate whose life and work have been shaped by resilience, empathy, faith, and the belief that every person has value.

A native of Panama who now resides in Indiana, Martha earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana State University while working full-time and caring for her family. Her professional life has been devoted to helping students discover their vocations, callings, and sense of worth.

In The Day Hope Walked Five Miles, Martha brings the same compassion to the page that she has offered throughout her career — walking beside others as they find the courage to keep going.

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Walk the road with Martha

Follow Martha for reflections on hope, faith, grief, healing, and the moments that remind us we are not walking alone.

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Praise

Words from early readers

Early reflections from readers moved by Martha’s story.

I have finished reading your book and left feeling extremely privileged for having read it. It gives a feeling of the author sitting beside you and verbally telling you the story with the amount of emotion infused within it. It follows a good through line of your love story but weaves a world of perseverance and hope around it which makes the core journey to love all the more meaningful. While I was reading it I was constantly reminded of the song “Love takes Miles” by Cameron Winter which I think you should take a listen to. Thank you very much for sharing this with me I feel so privileged to have this look at such a beautiful story.

—Love, Krislyn M