UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Smith offers a self-help book for survivors of trauma.

The author aims to help readers heal and transform despite difficult pasts. An actress best known for her starring role on As the World Turns, Smith draws on her experiences of overcoming childhood illness, the devastating death of her mother due to a rare form of cancer, the sudden death of her sister, a divorce, and the loss of her dream home in this narrative of trauma and recovery. The series of losses motivated her to answer the question, “Who would I be, could I be, if nothing or no one had ever gotten in my way?” Unfinished business, or UFB, Smith asserts, can prevent people from becoming who they were meant to be. Unattended, she cautions, it can result in an “emotional hairball.” Once the UFB is identified, readers are instructed to work on releasing the past. Next, the author directs readers to identify and relinquish falsehoods that have guided their journeys thus far so they can embark on new ones. Throughout the narrative, the author incorporates anecdotes and success stories from her coaching clients. There is useful guidance here for people recovering from loss. However, when Smith makes assertions such as “Hardship is not a handicap; it is an opportunity for growth. It is a doorway to deep wisdom,” it sets the bar rather high for survivors who may not be as optimistic about the utility of their traumatic experiences. The lead-up to taking action is unnecessarily long; the program does not begin until Chapter 6, a full 55 pages in. The author also includes superfluous sections on the definitions of the soul, the conscious mind, and the unconscious mind, concepts with which most self-help readers will already be familiar. Finally, the constant interruptions by inspirational quotes inserted into the middle of the text are distracting.

A slow burn of a self-help book offering familiar advice.