cover image Falling for Me: How I Hung Curtains, Learned to Cook, Traveled to Seville and Fell in Love

Falling for Me: How I Hung Curtains, Learned to Cook, Traveled to Seville and Fell in Love

Anna David. Harper, $14.99 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-06-199604-7

In love with a married man, the author, a dating expert and writer, is shattered by the heartbreak. Seeking guidance and solace from the bookstore relationship aisle to help her recover and break bad patterns, she stumbles upon Helen Gurley Brown's seminal 1962 book Sex and the Single Girl and is hooked. David finds it full of tips on how a woman can achieve an appreciation for herself and gratitude for being unattached if she wants to be. It "was giving me a hopeful message combined with a realistic plan... to break down the walls I've erected." David embarks on a year-long project to remake herself, trying to conquer the fear and resistance that has gotten in her way. She starts with online dating and moves on to transforming her home into a place that's inviting, embracing cooking for herself, upgrading her wardrobe and traveling on her own to a country where she doesn't speak the language. There's no question that some of David's pursuits are silly (her philosophies on bras; chasing down Brown's vitamin guru), and Brown, who wasn't opposed to anorexia, isn't always a great role model. Nevertheless, the author's all-out commitment makes for a thoughtful chronicle with inspiring lessons in personal growth and building a life one loves from the inside out. (Oct.)