The Middle of Somewhere

PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF SONJA YOERG
THE MIDDLE OF SOMEWHERE

“Hang on tight for this suspenseful story, beautifully backdropped against the Yosemite Valley wilderness . . . [an] action-paced, heart-tugging novel.”

—Heather Gudenkauf,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Little Mercies

“With the majestic Sierra Nevada wilderness as a fitting backdrop, Sonja Yoerg skillfully explores how the weight of remorse makes the search for personal redemption a test of not just the will, but the heart. The stunningly descriptive prose will have you thinking you're the one in the raw beauty of the wild, searching for a way out of your regrets.”

—Susan Meissner, author of
Secrets of a Charmed Life

“
The Middle of Somewhere
features Sonja Yoerg's characteristic clean, intelligent writing and perfectly imperfect characters. Yoerg brings the John Muir Trail alive in this story about a woman's treacherous journey—physically and emotionally—from the start of the trail to the end.”

—Julie Lawson Timmer, author of Five Days Left

“Sonja Yoerg knows how to write a book that is part finding yourself, part modern romance, and part heart-thumping thriller, all under the majesty of Yosemite National Park.”

—Cathy Lamb, author of
What I Remember Most

“
The Middle of Somewhere
is the perfect blend of self-discovery and suspense. Beautiful descriptions of the John Muir Trail are reminiscent of Strayed's
Wild
and equally lyrical, but Yoerg ups the ante with both a romance and a thrilling subplot. A complete page-turner!”

—Kate Moretti,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Thought I Knew You

“Beautifully written, [the book] paints a vivid portrait of the wilderness and a woman in peril. Liz is my favorite kind of heroine: smart, courageous, resourceful, and, at times, like many strong women, her own worst enemy. Love story, adventure tale, thriller . . . this novel has it all. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend it.”

—Eileen Goudge,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Bones and Roses

HOUSE BROKEN

“
House Broken
is a beautifully rendered debut. It's smart, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking, and it's spiced with just enough wit to offset the serious core of the story. . . . There are many powerful messages within the pages of this book, and Yoerg skillfully reminds us how important it is to muster the courage to face the past in order to move forward. . . . Several passages took my breath away, and more than once I was moved to tears. This wonderful novel is destined to be a hit with book clubs.”

—Beth Hoffman,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

“With an unflinching eye, Sonja Yoerg has created a riveting tale exploring the power of family secrets.
House Broken
is a novel that will burn itself into your memory.”

—Ellen Marie Wiseman, author of
What She Left Behind

“
House Broken
beautifully strips down the layers of family until all that is left is what's most important—love, forgiveness, understanding, and healing.”

—Jennifer Scott, national bestselling author of
Second Chance Friends

“Don't be fooled by the cute dog on the cover; there is nothing cute about this book. It's fearless, even dangerous, interested in telling the truth about complexities of behavior (human and animal) and not interested in being reassuring. Yoerg, like a dog in the book, bites down and doesn't let go. I very much admired her book.”

—Richard Kramer, author of
These Things Happen
and award-winning TV producer and writer

“A powerful tale of the ways in which families hurt and heal . . . gorgeously written with characters that shine.”

—Eileen Goudge, New York Times bestselling author of
Bones and Roses

“Sonja Yoerg's smartly written debut,
House Broken
, tells the spot-on tale of the challenges of navigating the three different families so many of us are part of—the one we grow up in, the one we marry into, and the one we create with our partners. With impeccable prose and marvelous wit, Yoerg shows us that for almost every dark pocket of pain a family's history hides, there is, ultimately, a ray of light and love.”

—Julie Lawson Timmer, author of
Five Days Left

“
House Broken
is a sparkling and insightful debut. Sonja Yoerg paints her characters and her plot with the finest brushstrokes that will have you turning each page faster than the last.”

—Emily Liebert, author of
Those Secrets We Keep

“Sonja Yoerg creates a compelling tale of a family gone awry and the ultimate cost of maintaining shameful secrets.
House Broken
is everything I love in women's fiction . . . beautiful writing, strong characters, a dash of mystery, and the hope for redemption.”

—Lori Nelson Spielman, international bestselling author of
Sweet Forgiveness

ALSO BY SONJA YOERG

House Broken

NAL Accent

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 375 Hudson Street,

New York, New York 10014

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A Penguin Random House Company

First published by NAL Accent, an imprint of New American Library,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC

First Printing, September 2015

Copyright © Sonja Yoerg, 2015

Conversation Guide copyright © Penguin Random House, LLC, 2015

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

Yoerg, Sonja, 1959–

The middle of somewhere/Sonja Yoerg.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-698-17793-2

1. Hikers—Fiction. 2. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 3. Man-woman relationships—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3625.O37M53 2015

813'.6—dc23 2015013191

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

To Richard

ACKNOWLE
DGMENTS

I owe my agent, Maria Carvainis, a huge debt for help with this book. I sure needed it. I also thank Elizabeth Copps for her keen insight.

I'm grateful to my editor, Claire Zion, who saw before I could what Liz's story was really about. Thank you, Claire, for pointing the way. I'm also grateful to Jennifer Fisher, Caitlin Valenziano, and the rest of the team at Penguin.

Helga Immerfall, Julie Lawson Timmer, and Jerry Smith read earlier versions; I value your advice, time, and friendship. My wise and wonderful daughters, Rachel and Rebecca Frank, read numerous versions, putting aside their college texts to give me a hand. I wouldn't dream of submitting a manuscript without first running your gauntlets.

I also acknowledge a group of writers, most of whom I've never laid eyes on, but who are, nevertheless, my friends and dear to me. Eileen Goudge, Samantha Bailey, Richard Kramer, and Melissa Cryzter Fry—thank you for your wisdom and open hearts. The same goes for Ann Garvin and the other fabulous members of the Tall Poppy Writer collective, whose advice and support is my new drug. Oh, and thanks to all of you for the laughs.

Richard Gill walked with me the two hundred twenty miles of the John Muir Trail, and walked them again and again in draft after draft of this story. His photographs of the Sierra inspired my writing daily and kept me true to the Trail. Our shared love of this landscape is inscribed on every page. Thank you for taking that journey with me, and all the others as well, especially this longer one, where in my heart we are forever walking along a mountain trail under a blue sky filled with invisible stars.