MINNEAPOLIS — What if Cheryl Strayed had never written her bestselling book, "Wild," and remained in Minnesota where she continued to struggle with addiction on the cusp of turning 50?
That's the rough story line for the new Hulu series, "Tiny Beautiful Things," a tearjerker of a series about Clare Pierce (Kathryn Hahn), who can never seem to reach her potential as a writer or human being.
There are a lot of similarities between Pierce and Strayed. Both were identified at an early age as having a gift for writing. Both grew up in homes without running water or electricity, and lost their mothers to cancer at an early age. Both struggled with alcohol and drugs. Both posed as "Dear Sugar," an advice columnist who developed a cult following via an online magazine.
But Strayed overcame her challenges, becoming a bestselling author along the way.
Her 2012 memoir, "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail," about a life-changing journey in her 20s, was made into a 2014 movie that earned Oscar nominations for stars Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern. Both signed on as executive producers for the "Tiny" series after Strayed pitched the idea during the filming of "Wild."
"It didn't seem like my real life would work with our story," said the 54-year-old Strayed this week by phone from her home in Oregon. "That would be a reality show. Our Clare is me if I didn't follow through on my potential."
In the series, when we first meet Pierce, she's been kicked out of her house after secretly taking money out of her daughter's college fund. She quickly is under investigation at the nursing home where she works and has a one-night stand with her Uber driver. You don't know whether to kick her in the behind or comfort her with a glass of warm milk.
Her advice columns hit home, in large part because she's flailing just as widely as her readers.
"I think the reason the letters touched people so deeply and were so relatable is because the responses are so deeply honest and human," Hahn told Entertainment Weekly. "They draw so much from this writer's own life. They're unfiltered and raw."
Hahn, a master at playing self-destructive characters, is not the only actor to portray a version of Strayed. In addition to Witherspoon, there's Nia Vardalos ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding"), who spearheaded a stage version of "Tiny Beautiful Things" and Sarah Pidgeon ("The Wilds"), who plays the younger Pierce in the TV series.
"It is the most surreal experience," Strayed said about watching such top-notch performers capture key moments in her life. "To see these talented women interpret my work in all these different formats, I'm forever in awe."
Strayed, who was on set for most of the shooting, said the hardest scene to watch was the one in which young Clare lies in bed with her brother, comforting each other while their mother is dying in the hospital.
"That scene went straight to my heart," she said.
Strayed's brother, Leif Nyland, lives in St. Paul and she returns often to visit him.
Despite her love for the state where she went to high school and college, the show is set in California. Logistics made it difficult to simulate Midwest weather conditions. Strayed liked to tease everyone on the production that growing up with an outhouse was a lot more challenging in Minnesota.
"I kept telling them that I had to do all the same things," Strayed said, "but when it was 40 below."
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