A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke – 400 pages
ARC from Avid Readers Press and Netgalley for an honest review
Book Blurb:
Paris, 1885: Aubry Tourvel, a spoiled and stubborn nine-year-old girl, comes across a wooden puzzle ball on her walk home from school. She tosses it over the fence, only to find it in her backpack that evening. Days later, at the family dinner table, she starts to bleed to death. When medical treatment only makes her worse, she flees to the outskirts of the city, where she realizes that it is this very act of movement that keeps her alive. So begins her lifelong journey on the run from her condition, which won’t allow her to stay anywhere for longer than a few days nor return to a place where she’s already been.
From the scorched dunes of the Calashino Sand Sea to the snow-packed peaks of the Himalayas; from a bottomless well in a Parisian courtyard, to the shelves of an infinite underground library, we follow Aubry as she learns what it takes to survive and ultimately, to truly live. But the longer Aubry wanders and the more desperate she is to share her life with others, the clearer it becomes that the world she travels through may not be quite the same as everyone else’s.
My Review: 4 stars
A Short Walk through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke is an achievement in beautiful writing with a main character that I will never forget.
Imagine having unstoppable bleeding or horrific pain that can only be stopped by movement. Well, that’s the premise of this story that features nine-year-old Aubry, who is cursed by a mysterious puzzle ball that she finds one seemingly normal afternoon.
This is where her fantastical adventure begins as she walks, boats, and flies the through the world to stay in motion. She is brave, strong, lonely, and honest. She meets people who want to cure her, imprison her, love her, or kill her. She sees places in this world that bring on wanderlust. She is also semi-famous as she openly tells her story to those who want to know.
I loved the mysterious doors that appeared for her that were tunnels of libraries. Books upon books upon more books. But here’s the but. There were times when I was flat-out confused about what was happening, and I wanted/needed to talk to other readers about it. I think this deserves a re-read at some point. I believe the overall message Westerbeke was sending through this novel was to relish in your own personal journey, not just the destination and that family is the root you grow from.
Finally, as much as I avoid believing in book comparisons, this one will give you vibes from The Midnight Library and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. (Releases 2024)
Quotes I liked:
Pain rewrites your future, how you think you’re going to live your life. It gives you a whole new way of looking at comfort and happiness.”
“The best way to survive some things, thought Aubrey, was not to understand them.”
“They press together as tight as pages in a book, and embrace so long night turns to day.”
“Love legitimized everything, she thought, all actions made clean if they ended in love.”
“A sunset so exquisite they assume God is in love, too.”
“A lack of words is not a lack of insight.”
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