Ways to Find Yourself by Angela Brown: A thoughtful, quietly surreal novel about identity, memory, and starting over

At 33, Grace Whittaker is convinced she’s finally figured herself out. By 38, that certainty has unraveled completely. In Ways to Find Yourself by Angela Brown (releasing May 1, 2026), that shift—subtle at first, then all-consuming—becomes the foundation for a story that explores how fragile our sense of self really is.

The novel opens with Grace at 33, secure in who she believes herself to be. But when the narrative moves forward five years, everything has changed. Her mother has died, her writing career has stalled, and her marriage is quietly falling apart. Returning to Sea Drift, the beach town of her childhood, feels less like a retreat and more like a last attempt to make sense of a life that no longer fits.

What she finds there isn’t just memory—it’s something stranger. Grace begins encountering younger versions of herself, each tied to those annual summer visits. These moments are handled with a dreamlike softness that makes them feel emotionally true rather than purely fantastical. Each version reflects a different iteration of who she’s been, forcing her to confront the unsettling reality that identity isn’t fixed—it’s layered, inconsistent, and often contradictory.

From a reader’s perspective, especially one with a few more decades of hindsight, there’s something quietly ironic in that opening confidence. At 33, Grace believes she’s already lived enough to know herself fully. At 38, she’s forced to confront how incomplete that understanding really was. And even then, there’s a sense that the clarity she begins to rebuild may not be as permanent as it feels. That’s one of the novel’s strongest insights: we are always works in progress, even when we’re certain we’ve arrived.

The story leans into that cycle—certainty, collapse, rebuilding, and renewed certainty. Life doesn’t offer a single, defining moment where everything clicks into place. Instead, it asks us to keep going, to do the hard work of reassessing and rebuilding when things fall apart. Grace’s journey reflects that ongoing process without offering easy answers.

Her relationships further complicate that sense of self. Ray, her teenage love, represents a version of Grace that only existed during those summer visits. He knew her—but only in that limited context. Grace recognizes this and walks away, understanding that being known in fragments isn’t the same as being truly seen. Later, her marriage to Adam reveals a different tension: he seems to love the version of Grace she believes she should be, rather than who she actually is.

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While the novel gestures toward a sense of romantic destiny, that element didn’t fully resonate with me. The idea of a “meant to be” relationship feels at odds with the book’s deeper exploration of identity. If Grace is still figuring out who she is at 38—and will likely continue to evolve—then any relationship built on a fixed idea of her feels inherently unstable.

What does land powerfully are the relationships that ground her. Her connection to her mother, even in absence, shapes the emotional core of the novel. And her best friend offers a steady, enduring presence—someone who knows her across versions, not just in isolated snapshots. These relationships feel more authentic and lasting, underscoring the idea that being truly known requires time, continuity, and honesty.

Ways to Find Yourself ultimately isn’t about arriving at a final version of yourself. It’s about recognizing that the process never really ends. We move through phases, we lose and rebuild, and each time we think we’ve figured it out, life has a way of asking us to look again.

If you’ve ever been certain about who you are—only to realize later how much you still had to learn—this novel will feel uncomfortable, and beautifully, familiar. Ways to Find Yourself is a reflective, quietly imaginative novel that captures the shifting nature of identity—and the illusion that we ever fully have it figured out.

What did you think? If you read Ways to Find Yourself, I’d love to hear your take. Did Grace’s journey resonate with you, or did you find yourself questioning where she ultimately lands?

An advance reader copy of this book (ARC) was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Related Content

• Meet Angela Brown (Canvas Rebel)
• Episode 68: Interview with Author Angela Brown (Literary Prospects – YouTube)
• Meet Angela Brown (Bold Journey)
• Weekly highlights for book lovers – by Zibby Owens (Zibby’s Highlights)

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