09/28/2020
Wilderness guide Kranz shares lessons learned from hiking in her disappointing debut. Betrayed by her husband and traumatized by an earlier sexual assault, Kranz found herself in midlife processing trauma through spiritual encounters with nature: “Being in nature gives the universe an opportunity to place our biggest lessons in front of us.” The book is a grab bag of run-of-the-mill therapeutic encouragements on such topics as values, self-worth, and mindfulness (“To heal anything, you have to feel everything. You must walk through your experiences and your pains”), and anecdotes about hikes that can undermine her message. For instance, the chapter on relationship boundaries centers on a story about refusing to let a client have her phone back on a hike until the “perfect moment” in order to teach a lesson about stubbornness—a confusing illustration that suggests manipulation more than healthy boundaries. Though there are some edifying if unsurprising lessons here, overall, this rocky assortment of musings runs off track. (Nov.)
