How to Walk Away: A Novel
From the author of Happiness for Beginners comes the instant New York Times bestseller (May 2018), an unforgettable love story about finding joy even in the darkest of circumstances.
Margaret Jacobsen is just about to step into the bright future she’s worked for so hard and so long: a new dream job, a fiancé she adores, and the promise of a picture-perfect life just around the corner. Then, suddenly, on what should have been one of the happiest days of her life, everything she worked for is taken away in a brief, tumultuous moment.
In the hospital and forced to face the possibility that nothing will ever be the same again, Maggie must confront the unthinkable. First there is her fiancé, Chip, who wallows in self-pity while simultaneously expecting to be forgiven. Then, there's her sister Kit, who shows up after pulling a three-year vanishing act. Finally, there's Ian, her physical therapist, the one the nurses said was too tough for her. Ian, who won't let her give in to her pity, and who sees her like no one has seen her before. Sometimes the last thing you want is the one thing you need. Sometimes we all need someone to catch us when we fall. And sometimes love can find us in the least likely place we would ever expect.
How to Walk Away is Katherine Center at her very best—a masterpiece of a novel that is both hopeful and hilarious; truthful and wise; tender and brave.
Praise for How to Walk Away:
"Katherine Center's voice did what great fiction is meant to do: It pulled me in so immediately and completely that I forgot about real life." —Taylor Jenkins Reid, bestselling author of Daisy Jones & the Six
"I can't think of a blurb good enough for this novel...poignant, funny, heartbreaking." —Jenny Lawson, bestselling author of Furiously Happy
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Readers say *How to Walk Away* is a heartfelt, poignant novel featuring relatable characters and authentic family dynamics. Many praise its emotional ...
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Her boyfriend, a pilot, proposes while taking her on an airplane ride. There's a rough landing and a crash. Chip escapes, but Margaret's legs are trapped. While Chip leaves her dangling while he goes for help, a fire breaks out. A a result, she is burned and paralyzed. Eventually Chip leaves her and she has to cope with the loss of her abilities, the end of her career, and months of physical therapy. The best part of the book is the relationship between the two sisters and their interaction with their manipulative mother. Her sister has an explosive secret that once revealed causes a family rift. How she copes with her therapy, her therapist, and her life is a great story.
I am a sucker for romance. Especially romance that overcomes tragic circumstances. So this charming and inspiring little novel was right up my alley. It might have also had something to do with the fact that it's set in Texas (that's where I live!) and that the main character, Maggie, has a terrible fear of flying (me too!). And while the plot was fairly predictable--there were a few surprises--I still enjoyed every word, which is why this one gets five glowing stars from me.
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