Margaret Jacobsen has her fingertips on the brass ring. She\u2019s the beautiful, dutiful younger daughter of Anglo, upper-middle-class strivers in Austin, Texas, possessor of a brand-new MBA degree, favored candidate for a dream job, and certain her longtime boyfriend, Chip, is going to propose to her today. The only clouds in Margaret\u2019s sky are an estranged older sister and an intense fear of flying, which is unfortunate because her phobia may limit their choice of honeymoon destinations and Chip is in the process of earning a pilot\u2019s license.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Margaret was right; Chip did propose to her\u2014after bullying her, in that jocular but insistent manner every woman on the planet will recognize, into the cockpit of the Cessna he had been training in and promptly crashing it, the plane cartwheeling before wedging in a ditch and catching fire. Chip escapes but Margaret must be cut out of the wreckage, requiring skin grafts, questioning whether she\u2019ll walk again.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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How to Walk Away: A Novel<\/a><\/em> is the latest work of contemporary fiction from Houston\u2019s Katherine Center. A graduate of the University of Houston\u2019s renowned creative writing program, Center has published six novels. As is Center\u2019s specialty, How to Walk Away<\/em> is sweet without the sap, an uplifting, feel-good tale without being predictable.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Initially I thought Margaret\u2019s wisecracking in the immediate aftermath of a spinal cord injury incongruous (\u201cThey say everybody loses time in the ICU. It\u2019s basically Vegas in there, minus the showgirls and slot machines.\u201d), but then I realized her first-person narrative is a fictional memoir, told from the remove of a decade. In the beginning, Margaret is a likeable enough character\u2014if lacking in backbone\u2014a generic yuppie aspiring to McMansion-hood, but she tells her story from the future as a transformed woman, a nuanced, sympathetic character.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The remainder of the cast have fewer dimensions than Margaret and don\u2019t receive the same opportunities for growth, but are interesting and entertaining, nevertheless. Margaret\u2019s father is understood to be active behind the scenes; her mother is almost insufferable (\u201c[Mom] could always find the downside. And she had no filter, so once she found it, everybody else had to find it, too.\u201d); Chip proves to be an asinine coward of breathtaking selfishness (\u201cDo you know I escaped that crash without a scratch?\u201d Chip said \u2026 \u201cthe plane is totaled. You \u2026 are totaled.\u201d); Ian the Scottish physical therapist is appropriately brooding and mysterious; older sister Kit makes her energetic, grand re-entrance as a breath of fresh air.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Center\u2019s writing is markedly emotionally astute\u2014I suspect she was a psychoanalyst in a former life. Her families are authentically complicated, her characters\u2019 interactions fraught with the disconnect between heart and mind. Center is particularly good at conveying shock and grief, employing a blend of sardonic nonchalance that should be patented. Center\u2019s technique allows the devastation to sneak up on you. When you begin feeling too relaxed, understand that you\u2019re about to get smacked with a doozy of a plot twist.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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How to Walk Away<\/span><\/em> is quickly and evenly paced. Subplots involving the estranged sister, a difficult mother, the hospital edition of office politics, and the possibility of new romance service the main plotline instead of distracting from it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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How to Walk Away <\/em>is recommended reading for your summer vacation, whether you take it to the beach or your backyard hammock.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"