When Kristi Coulter quit drinking, she started noticing things. Like when you give up a debilitating habit, it leaves a space, one that can’t easily be filled by mocktails or ice cream or sex or crafting. And when you cancel Rose Season for yourself, you’re left with just summer, and that’s when you notice that the women around you are tanked-that alcohol is the oil in the motors that keeps them purring when they could be making other kinds of noises.

In her sharp, incisive debut essay collection, Coulter reveals a portrait of a life in transition by a keen-eyed observer no longer numbed into complacency. By turns hilarious and heartrending, Nothing Good Can Come from This introduces a fierce new voice to fans of Sloane Crosley, David Sedaris, and Cheryl Strayed-perfect for anyone who has ever stood in the middle of a so-called perfect life and looked for an escape hatch.