Things I Learned from Falling

Claire spent four days and three nights alone in the desert.

One day Claire decided to conquer the Lost Palms Oasis Trail in California after escaping her overloaded London life. Without realising she ventured miles off the trail, and ended up slipping off a boulder, shattering her pelvis along the way. Unable to move nor able able to contact anybody what followed was a life changing experience.

Even though I knew that Claire would survive, I still sat at the edge of my seat whilst reading the book. It was gripping, sad and joyful as I couldn’t help but experience Claire’s emotions as she retold the gruesome hours whilst she awaited help. The pages flick between the desert and her life before travelling to California, filled with raw honesty and self reflection. It’s a book that I finished with a huge grin on my face, happy that despite it all she managed to defy the odds.
I will risk the danger of sounding cheesy, and say that Claire’s story really made me think twice about the perspective of life and how easy it is to lose it all. ‘Things I learned from falling’ is an inspiring and uplifting memoir that’s really worth sinking your teeth into.

Fantastic. Kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

Nelson has an excellent style of writing and the story was well-paced. I enjoyed the way the narrative jumped between her survival after the accident to her childhood and previous life in London and how events there - including her battle with depression - led her to travel.

A must read.

Thanks to Octopus Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

Amazing true story of surviving 4 days in the Joshua Tree National Park after a fall.
Struggling with daytime heat, night time cold & dehydration.
It also tells the story of how & why she went there in the first place.
A very gripping read, even though it was known she obviously had survived.
Thanks to Netgalley.

Gripping, intense, emotional and beautifully written.
Things I Learned From Falling tells the terrifying true life story of a hiker who finds themselves in trouble and unable to call for help.

The way this story was laid out was amazing. With some great pacing and descriptions of thoughts and emotions that build a compelling story.
The whole time I was reading this, I was gripped, and fearful over what would happen, even though the mere existence of this book, gives you the outcome.

A must read Non-Fiction book.

I read the book in two sittings over the course of a day, that’s how absorbing it is. Nelson’s narrative moves between her past, both childhood and recent, to her present, the account of her days in the desert hoping beyond hope to be saved. The reference to falling is how she literally fell but also emotionally, and how, over time, she has pieced her life back together into something quite different from her past.

What makes this book so fantastic, is that Nelson makes it relatable. Have I ever fallen from a height in the desert, lain for days thinking I was about to die? No. But yet there is so much in this book to which I could relate.

"It’s strange how moments become suspended in time. Everything during those next few seconds happened so fast, yet each movement left a clear and perceptible etch in my memory."

The book is split into the days Nelson was stuck in the desert. As we move through the days with her, she builds up all her physical and mental pain, as well as her fear, in such detail that at the point of her rescue I actually (completely unexpectedly) burst into tears, as if I had never known that she was rescued.

Nelson tackles many subjects, primarily mental health, but also provides a commentary on our society and social media.

"I thought about the amount of time I spent-that I wasted-sitting in my room pissing about on the internet. Hours on social media, clicking links, flicking through apps. Sucked down the rabbit hole of nothingness. Hours of my life just thrown in the bin. Gone."

When reading this part of the book, all I could think about is how right she is and how it shouldn’t take a life changing experience for me to acknowledge that I engage in this type of behaviour. But later in the book, Nelson goes on to talk about healing but also falling, and how falling is part of living.

I feel like I could talk about this book all day, but in summary it is beautiful. It is wonderfully well-written, descriptive, and captivating. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Take tissues.