You Are a Heroine

December 1, 2019
This inspirational self-help book for women offers a cheerful yellow brick road to a new life. In his famous 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell theorized that, in literature, all mythical heroes' journeys have a similar structure. Organizational development consultant and executive coach Liller (Circle Power, 2010) details how women may start their own life-changing journeys in this accessible guide. Her inspiration for writing this book occurred while watching a speaker's presentation that compared Campbell's theory to Dorothy Gale's journey in The Wizard of Oz. Liller sprinkles references to the wide-eyed girl from Kansas throughout the text as she urges readers to realize that, like Dorothy, they've been the heroines of their own stories all along. A heroine doesn't have to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, writes Liller; instead, she can simply be a woman who dares to take risks and challenge herself, even when it's frightening to do so. This breezy manual begins by defining some terms; for instance, a person is in the "Belly of the Whale" when they find themselves in turmoil during a journey of self-discovery. As Liller urges women to begin their own quests, she provides basic rules of the road, such as "it's OK not to know where you're going next." She also offers practical tools that are easy to use, such as a "Heroine's Journey Map" for recording milestones. For readers who have no idea what they want to do in the future, there's a hands-on exercise that involves free-writing ideas on sticky notes and grouping similar ideas together; the aim is to help women to see previously unknown patterns in their lives. Although the book is relatively short, Liller's friendly voice is inviting, and her examples are often compelling. Comparing life to a journey is a clich�, and some of the exercises--such as affirmations--have been done many times before. But women who are searching for a first step to change will find some solid ground under their feet here. An upbeat, if sometimes-familiar, manual for self-discovery.

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Starred review from April 15, 2019
Readers know they're in for a ride when a book begins with a woman?in this case, the author's then-21-year-old grandmother?tossing her suitcase from a moving train, before leaping off herself. She did what anyone following her dream would do, life coach Liller explains. Here she aims to awaken the Heroine in ordinary women, helping them reach their potential in everything from career and parenting to social activism. Building on the work of the late Joseph Campbell, who linked classical myths to common psychological themes, Liller delivers chapter-by-chapter steps of the journey: responding to an urge to do something different; learning to interact with naysayers and supporters; and facing the figurative dragons that represent deep fears and challenges. Three women who've experienced life-changing events, from divorce to chronic illness, share stories throughout, alongside Liller's own relatable tales from her personal journey. The author's conversational writing is a pleasure, and her ability to help women interpret their circumstances in a more adventurous, intuitive way makes this book unique. Heroineism, she writes, is about having the courage to expand from within. Her book offers a fresh way of seeing just how far women can go.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)