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Author Riley has created a charming memoir that offers motivation for readers to live a Christian life. Born in Jamaica, she grew up in a devout family. Her father was a church choir director, and she developed her spiritual music gifts from an early age. After high school, she determined to go to America, and despite some setbacks, she obtained a visa. She candidly admits here that the "bright lights of New York" were filled with temptations. However, Cecil—a fellow church-goer/musician from home—was also in the United States. Once they began courting, marriage followed. The couple opened a storefront church that soon grew into the well-attended Freedom Hall Church of God. Parenting two daughters, working in tandem with her husband, and becoming the "First Lady" of the church brought joys as well as doubts and the need for constant moral vigilance. A serious kidney disorder nearly took her life just as she was working toward becoming a gospel music recording artist. All these "rungs" have challenged her and carried her higher.
Riley, who continues to partner with Cecil in organizing and overseeing their church, has now fulfilled her dream of recording her singing and self-composed songs. Her memoir is frank, expressing the many dilemmas faced as she rose on the ladder of success, rung by rung. Her "rungs" metaphor includes not only the common usage referencing career achievement but also the sacred path upward as expressed in scripture in passages like the well-known ladder dreamed of by Jacob. Her book combines lively reminiscences emotively conveyed and short, appropriate small sermons or spiritual advice based on varied experiences and revealing her extensive biblical knowledge through well-chosen quotations. She sees her narrative as a "victory testimony," hoping it may inspire readers to try harder and climb higher to attain their spiritual rewards.