What if the journey that changed everything began with getting lost?
On the eve of her thirtieth birthday — burnt out, heartbroken, quietly unraveling — Camille boards a one-way flight to Istanbul, searching for a word she does not yet have for herself.
“She had spent a decade becoming someone impressive. She had forgotten how to be someone real.”
From the outside, Camille is the picture of a life well-built — a career people envy, a calendar that never breathes, a smile rehearsed enough to pass for joy. Inside, something quieter is happening. A slow disappearance. A grief without a name.
The night before she turns thirty, she does the only honest thing left to do: she leaves. A plane to Istanbul. No itinerary. No plan. Only the unbearable certainty that the woman she has been can no longer carry the woman she is becoming.
What follows is not a vacation. It is a reckoning. Through the call to prayer over the Bosphorus and the lamplit cobblestones of Prague, through two unlikely friendships — Vicky and Lucy, women who become her mirrors as much as her guides — Camille is asked, gently and then mercilessly, the questions she has spent a lifetime avoiding.
Back to Me is a novel about burnout and heartbreak, about the patterns we keep choosing in love, about the emptiness no achievement can fill — and about the impossibly tender work of coming home to a self you abandoned long before you noticed she was gone.
Maybe you already know the ache she is carrying.
“Why do I keep falling for the same kind of love?”
“Why does everything I built still feel empty at night?”
“Why doesn't the ache ever fully leave?”
“Is there more for me — even if I can't yet name where to begin?”
If even one of those questions sat down beside you while you read it — this story was written for you, in a language only the tired and the becoming will fully understand.
Back to Me. Volver a Mí.
The same story, told in the two languages that built the author. Read it in the tongue that finds you most tender — or keep both close, the way some truths only soften when they are whispered twice.
You are not broken.
You are being called back to yourself.
The numbness is not the end of you. The heartbreak is not a verdict. The exhaustion is not who you are — it is the sound of a life asking, gently, to be lived more honestly. This book will not hand you a map. It will sit beside you while you find the one you have always carried.
“Some women run away to disappear. Camille ran away to finally be found.”
What readers are saying about Back to Me.
Verified reviews from readers walking their own way home.
“Back to Me by Lianeth Rada is more than just a book — it's a soul-stirring experience. From the very first page, I felt like the author was speaking directly to my heart. Her words are raw, honest, and filled with a deep wisdom that only comes from someone who has truly walked through the fire and found her way back home.”
“The story “Back to Me” is more than a narrative — it leads readers to rediscover their authentic selves. From the first pages this beautiful story captured my heart while it led me through the unfiltered landscapes of grief, self-doubt, and transformation with breathtaking honesty.”
“An incredible book so far. I can't believe how much I'm identifying with the story. It's almost like reading my own biography. Amazing how it makes you think about so many things in your life, decisions, ways of acting.”
“The way the author shares Cami's journey makes it easy to reflect on your own life and realize you have more in common with her than you might have imagined. Without even noticing, you begin your own path toward healing and self-discovery.”
“Back to Me is more than just a story, it's a soul journey. From the very first pages, I felt deeply connected to Camille, a woman who seems to have it all together on the outside but is quietly falling apart inside. Her impulsive decision to fly to Istanbul becomes a life-changing pilgrimage.”
“Beautiful journey of self-awareness and self-discovery, with the stunning city of Istanbul as a supporting character. Devoured the book in a day, I was so enthralled by the content. Highly recommend if you're also on the path of consciousness.”