Nerve

A TIME top 100 must read book of 2020—a spellbinding dive into paralyzing fear that Rolling Stone says “could not be timelier”

Since childhood, Eva Holland has been gripped by two debilitating phobias: fear of losing her mother and fear of heights. The worst comes to pass with her mother’s sudden death in 2015, and something shifts for Eva. Then, when an ice-climbing expedition ends with Eva embarrassed and in tears, a new resolve kicks in: Fear may define her past, but it won’t decide her future!

Through incredibly moving storytelling and boots-off-the-ground investigation, Holland peels back the layers of paralyzing dread to ask: Is fear necessary? Is it rooted in the body or the mind? And even: Is there a better way to feel afraid? By grappling with, even embracing, her innermost dreads, Holland aspires to give us all the nerve to face down the phobias that limit our lives.