She started writing a column under the pseudonym “Dear Sugar” more than a decade ago when she was a struggling writer trying to cobble together a living. All of which might sound like a strange route to television, but Cheryl Strayed has never walked a straight path. She's an arts advocate, insatiable thrifter and the bassist in the band Chit Chat.Tiny Beautiful Things is a forthcoming Hulu series adapted from a book that was culled from an anonymous online advice column. We find out throughout the mini-series what fans of Strayed already know– Clare forges her path to a more purposeful future, step by step as she reminders herself she is always three things: “I am my mother’s daughter, I am my daughter's mother, and I am an accomplished writer, even if I haven’t accomplished it yet.”Īll eight episodes of Tiny Beautiful Things are being released exclusively on Hulu on Friday, April 7.Īll photos are still's from the Hulu Original Tiny Beautiful Things, courtesy of Hulu.Ĭarmella is a writer and journalist based in Milwaukee, WI. The show is beautifully written and directed, creating a hopeful scenario out of an impossibly messy story. Tanzyn Crawford plays her angsty teenage daughter, Quentin Plair plays her husband who is struggling to repair their relationship, an amazing Michaela Watkins as Amy, her bartender turned therapist, and Sarah Pidgeon who plays an extraordinarily complex younger version of Clare. Hahn’s incredible acting chops are supported by a fantastic cast. Clare is stuck in a mess of her own making, but she is thrown a lifeline just when she needs it the most.

This is not to say that Clare’s struggles are just bad luck, or exist for some unscrupulous reason she has no part in– no, her life is falling apart in large part due to her decisions, her lack of decisions, her struggles grappling with the past and unwillingness to plan for the future. The column seems to be the only thing going right in Clare’s life, a respite from the turmoil, and a moment to re-focus as she tries to take control of her own story. Throughout the chaos, Clare has been obsessively reading an advice column, 'Dear Sugar.' In quiet snippets of peace, we see Clare soaking up the column’s tender responses, she even writes into the column herself, commiserating with the columnist on the loss of their sister. She can barely stay sober enough to do her job, she’s in marriage counseling with a therapist she can’t stand, and her own teenage daughter is moving on without her.

When her scared husband finds her, we learn that she has been kicked out of their house, and has been sleeping at the retirement facility that she manages. The story opens with a drunk Clare, returning from a coworker’s retirement party, breaking into her own home.

Tiny beautiful things book review