ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Every community has stories that deserve to be told—stories that remind us extraordinary resilience often begins in ordinary neighborhoods.

For St. Augustine resident Gordana Smith, that story became deeply personal.

A holistic primary care practitioner, wife, and mother, Smith never imagined she would one day become the subject of her own life’s most difficult chapter. But after a sudden medical crisis involving her son’s health upended nearly every part of her world, she found herself on a journey that would test her faith, challenge her profession, and ultimately inspire her first memoir, Book of the Silenced.

“I never imagined becoming the subject of my own story,” Smith shared. “After a sudden medical crisis upended my son’s health, my family, my marriage, and my career, I found myself navigating not only a life-changing diagnosis but also the painful reality of medical gaslighting and the struggle to have my voice heard.”

What began as a mother’s desperate fight to save her child evolved into something much larger—a story of resilience, advocacy, and rebuilding after unimaginable loss.

Book of the Silenced tells the story of a physician who once placed complete faith in modern medicine until that trust was shattered. After her son, Mikey, suffered what should have been a routine sports injury, he was misdiagnosed and overmedicated, becoming, Smith says, “a casualty of a system more invested in protecting itself than listening to the child in its care.”

The experience exposed far more than a medical error.

“The fight to save him exposed a deeper war fought not only against illness, but against medical gaslighting, institutional betrayal, and the spiritual battles waged behind hospital doors,” Smith said.

The memoir blends the precision of a doctor, the fierce protection of a mother, and the unwavering faith of someone determined to survive. Smith describes it as both “an indictment and a love letter”—a reflection on truth, injustice, and the power of refusing to be silenced.

Though rooted in her family’s experience in Northeast Florida, the story has struck a national chord.

In just two months, Book of the Silenced earned Amazon Bestseller status and has since received multiple national honors, including the Mom’s Choice Awards® Gold Recipient, the Florida Authors and Publishers Association President’s Book Award Medalist, National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist recognition, a Readers’ Favorite five-star review, and recommendation by Kirkus Reviews.

But for Smith, the real significance lies beyond the accolades.

“It is the story of a St. Augustine healthcare professional who transformed one of the darkest chapters of her life into a nationally recognized work,” she said. “I hope it encourages readers to advocate for themselves, trust their instincts, and refuse to be silenced.”

At its core, Smith says the book is for families, caregivers, patients, and anyone who has ever had to fight to be heard.

“This book is for anyone who has ever seen injustice and refused to look away, for everyone who has been silenced for speaking the truth, and for every child whose voice deserved to matter,” she said.

And perhaps its most powerful message is the one Smith discovered through her own pain, “Because sometimes the person we are fighting to save is the one who came to save us.”

For a local author whose journey began in one of life’s darkest valleys, Book of the Silenced stands as a testament that even in silence, there is strength—and in truth, there is healing.

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