Marie gates may be the only woman in america with her own death certificate. she obtained it in the fall of 1979 while researching her past life as amanda randall, a stenographer in depression-era new england. ms. gates uncovered amanda's name and city in hypnotic regressions. on a visit to the area she found amanda's daughter, amanda jones. mrs. jones described her mother's death, in a catholic hospital, the way ms. gates had remembered it from infancy. ms. gates was not a firm believer in reincarnation, but amanda randall had died exactly three months before her own birth, and she has no other explanation for her earliest memory. ms. gates learned about similarities between amanda randall and herself and realized how the previous life has affected her. shadows on my mind compares the past-life and present personalities. on the way to self discovery, ms. gates did research and experienced synchronicity and psychic events. a framework for understanding them enriches the book.