Turn to Stone: A Memoir

“Turn to Stone marks the arrival of a brave, feminist, seeking, and essential voice in nonfiction. Read this book and be forever changed.” —Emily Rapp Black, New York Times bestselling author

A memoir of sex, angst, and rocks that chronicles one woman’s ascent—on walls of stone and within herself—as she faces her demons and finds freedom and power in the raw and wild adventure of rock climbing.

Down on the ground, it was hard to connect, hard to attach, hard to untangle, hard to let go. But up here, I understood. Up here, I could make it good.

Broken by an abusive relationship, Emily Meg Weinstein impulsively tries rock climbing on a California road trip, following strangers into the vertical world. Soon, she is consumed by her addiction to the freedom she feels when she’s up on the wall. Holding on to the rocks, she is free from societal constraints and expectations, free from her own sorrows and longings.

“Vulnerable, authentic, and wickedly funny” (Laurel Braitman, New York Times bestselling author), Weinstein describes the steep learning curve of becoming a climber, spending weeks at a time sleeping in the back of her Subaru, and a long, dark night stuck on top of a mountain. From living on the edge and falling through thin air, Emily learns to forgive her own failures, heal her deepest wounds, and find courage in the face of fear. Like Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, but in the vertical, or William Finnegan’s Barbarian Days, if lived by a Jewish woman from Long Island, Turn to Stone tells the story of a journey into nature that becomes a crucible of self-discovery.