Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser

In these earnest if simplistic essays, What Fresh Hell podcaster Wilson (When Did I Get Like This?) reflects on how women can set boundaries on what others ask of them. “Know your value,” she exhorts, recounting how as a recent college graduate, she performed endless menial tasks as the personal assistant of a demanding Broadway actor, until she worked up the nerve to quit. Wilson describes the myriad productivity apps she tried in an unsuccessful attempt to balance her familial, personal, and professional obligations, only to recognize that she couldn’t complete everything and would have to focus on what mattered most. Elsewhere, she discusses how the many doctor’s appointments she scheduled to get to the root of her son’s seizures left him overmedicated, exposing the downside of trying too hard to help, and how her elementary school–age daughter, who suffers from debilitating migraines, learned to stand up for herself by insisting she rest despite her gym teacher’s commands. The essays are a bit didactic, each boiling down to such platitudes as “saying ‘no’ can sometimes be its own kind of bravery” and “the only one you can change is you,” but Wilson imbues the stories with plenty of heart. Readers willing to overlook the clichés will appreciate this soulful take on charting one’s own path. Agent: Gillian MacKenzie, Gillian MacKenzie Agency. (Jan.)