Katherine Center is best known for her two most recent releases (How to Walk Away and Things You Save in a Fire), but her earlier novel, Happiness for Beginners, is pure enjoyment. The novel’s heroine, Helen Carpenter, is going through a divorce and needs to do something to open up what has become her very small world. She signs up for a wilderness survival course. Helen’s transformation and the relationships she develops over the course of her adventures are the main focus of this story, but, as a reader, it’s hard not to feel at least a little inspired to seek out a challenge of one’s own. Center excels at crafting intensely likable and relatable characters, and at its core, this is an inspiring and entertaining novel that will leave readers with a satisfied sigh.
Raela Schoenherr is an editor at a Minnesota publishing company. She loves to talk books and writing on Twitter at @raelaschoenherr.
