His Giant Mistake: Spinning Magic Out of Infidelity and Divorce by Cleo Everest

After moving across the country to Marin County, California with her husband of 15 years and their young kids, Cleo Everest discovers his infidelity through an accidental pocket dial. Yes, she hears her husband order wine up to a hotel room for himself and his girlfriend. This book covers the first year post-betrayal and all that entails — denial, therapy, anger, and hiking.

I LOVE this book. Everest has an amazing sense of biting humor. She makes the really painful parts funny, and you can’t help but laugh even as you remember the awful pain of being in those shoes. I re-read it and nearly highlighted the whole damned book looking for passages that resonated deeply and that I wanted to share. You’d better like hiking. About halfway through the book, the narrative turns into a hiking journal, but then switches back to an honest account of the emotional journey of divorce.

“Along the way something magical happened. I came to believe that I created my divorce so that I could experience a much richer life. A life I couldn’t have dreamed because I couldn’t possibly deserve something so spectacular.”