First published 2015
Helen Carpenter is thirty-two and divorced when her younger brother convinces her to join a wilderness survival course. She thinks the experience might help her rebuild her life. Then she learns that her brother's best friend will be there too. She finds him even more irritating than her brother. The course takes place in remote Wyoming mountains. Helen faces three weeks of challenges she never imagined. Mosquitoes swarm her. A summer blizzard catches the group by surprise. Sorority girls complicate the group dynamics. Helen has lived a careful, well-behaved life until now. The wilderness forces her into situations that test every assumption she has about herself. The people who irritate her most become her unexpected teachers. She learns to defend herself. She discovers that fear can transform into courage. The mountains show her that losing yourself completely might be the only path to finding who you really are.
Genres: fiction, romance, self-help, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Wyoming
Period: 21st-century
320 pages · Paperback · St. Martin's Griffin