A searing and luminous novel of a family's grief after unexpected loss, from the author of the huge bestseller Wild.

"Work hard. Do good. Be incredible!" is the advice Teresa Rae Wood shares with the listeners of her local radio show, Modern Pioneers, and the advice she strives to live by every day. She has fled a bad marriage and rebuilt a life with her children, Claire and Joshua, and their caring stepfather, Bruce. Their love for each other binds them as a family through the daily struggles of making ends meet. But when they received unexpected news that Teresa, only 38, is dying of cancer, their lives all begin to unravel and drift apart.

Strayed's intimate portraits of these fully human characters in a time of crisis show the varying truths of grief, forgiveness, and the beautiful terrors of learning how to keep living.

Cheryl Strayed is the author of the critically acclaimed novel
Torch, the huge
New York Times-bestselling memoir
Wild and the collection of essays
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Someone Who's Been There. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and journals, including
The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine,Allure and
The Rumpus.
She lives in Portland, Oregon.