Carrie Pilby by Caren Lissner
Sometimes you can think too much.  You can overanalyze, over-rationalize, and get so caught up in what’s right and wrong that you never allow yourself to enjoy life and all its imperfections.  Sometimes you just need to follow your heart and give people a chance.  These are lessons learned by Carrie Pilby, prodigy and social misfit.

Carrie is an only child of a father who cares for her deeply but travels a great deal.  As a child prodigy, she graduated from Harvard at the young age of 19.  Until then, she had been able to hide her loneliness behind books and her G.P.A.  But now she is living in the real world of New York City, struggling to find a place for herself and her almost unyielding sense of morality.  When Carrie’s therapist and family friend gets her to agree to a five-point plan to improve her sociability, it starts her down a path of discovery.  As she meets new people and becomes involved in relationships, she begins to question her own sense of morality as lines that were previously drawn begin to get crossed.

Carrie is very loveable in her own sort of mixed up way.  She will make you laugh and at the same time make your heart ache.  You will want to befriend her and show her that life doesn’t have to be so hard.  Taking risks, is much better than sleeping your days away and never giving yourself the chance to find happiness.  As Carrie finally comes to realize, things are not always black and white.  There are shades of gray.  And you can stay true to yourself while at the same time accepting and tolerating differences that make each of us unique and interesting.

About the author:  Caren Lissner lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, and works as a newspaper editor.  Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Harper’s and Jane magazine.