A Beginner's Guide to Faults: A Memoir

A bighearted memoir of fidelity and forgiveness, A Beginner’s Guide to Faults draws on the language of geology to explore fault lines in a long marriage―deep fractures formed by unmet needs, quiet betrayals, and the human longing for connection and freedom.

After twenty-five years of marriage, Denice is blindsided when her husband reveals his romance with a Las Vegas stripper. This latest move in their tit-for-tat game of infidelity is too much for her. She files for divorce and heads to South Dakota, where she hopes to fulfill her wildest fantasies. Instead, plagued by guilt about her own faults, she wrecks each new relationship, convinced that she is unforgivable.

Through fleeting romances and soul-deep self-reflection, Denice rebuilds a life and a family on her own terms. A Beginner’s Guide to Faults is a memoir of transformation―one that shows how love can change without ever being lost.

Denice Turner is a master educator and compulsive gardener who specializes in life story as a tool for healing and growth. She is the author of Worthy: A Memoir and Writing the Heavenly Frontier, books that explore how place shapes identity and narrative. She teaches English Language Arts and literacy at Black Hills State University.