Teetering: A Novel

What does it mean to measure a life—not by the impossible standards we set for ourselves, but by the truths we dare to face and the fears we choose to confront?

From the outside looking in, Allegra Christos seems to have it all: the comforts of upper-class New York City, a devoted husband of thirty-five years, and the beautiful family they built. Through decades of cultural, political, and personal upheaval, she and Sam have remained steadfast, emerging from each conflict stronger than before. Now, as Sam’s eightieth birthday approaches, Allegra prepares the ultimate surprise—a lavish party and a self-authored chronicle of their life together.

But Allegra is hiding more than her celebratory plans, and her best-kept secret threatens to unravel everything they’ve built.

In her debut novel, Teetering, Karen Mehiel delivers a raw and moving portrait of a woman torn between living an authentic life and the pressure of perfection. Allegra is conflicted between the solace of her silence and the consequences of disclosing the truth. How long can she sustain the carefully constructed life she’s created before this new, unwelcome reality shatters it? With haunting intimacy, Teetering explores society’s conventional, often impossible, metrics of success, and argues that a life’s true measure lies in confronting our truths, embracing vulnerability, and facing the fear of insufficiency.