At the age of 9, Audrey Torvel finds a puzzle ball. Soon after, she comes down with a terrible medical affliction that only stops if she keeps moving. She can never stay for more than a few days in any one place and can never return to the same place again. This book chronicles her story and travels across the globe from deserts to jungles to small remote villages to major cities to mysterious hidden libraries in ways and in timelines that don’t always fit with the real world. The plot jumps back and forth in time and outlines Audrey’s encounters with others, her loneliness and the development of her understanding of herself and the world.

The plot had many similarities to “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” though Audrey is remembered by those she meets and she becomes famous. The book did not pull me in as I had hoped it would and I felt it dragged in places. At times I thought I was near the end, only to find I was only 2/3 of the way through the book. I also found the ending to be confusing and unresolved, which left me somewhat dissatisfied.

I must commend the author, however, on his beautiful and skillful writing. He shows great imagination and provides wonderful description and clever narrative.

Overall I give this book a rating of 3.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for a review.

At first I wasn't quite sure if I was going to love this book - but as the story progressed I liked it more & more ! There's a strange type of magic within the words & my emotions were hiehgtened especially toward the main character. Overall beautifully written and a very introducing story !!

If a librarian wrote an adventure novel...

Hey! Guess what? That title is not hypothetical. A Librarian *DID* write an adventure novel! And it's pretty good, too. His name is Douglas Westerbeke and the novel (his first) is called A Short Walk Through a Wide World. Here, from the Simon and Schuster web site is everything I know about Westerbeke

Douglas Westerbeke is a librarian who lives in Ohio and works at one of the largest libraries in the US. He has spent the last decade on the local panel of the International Dublin Literary Award, which inspired him to write his own book.

There's also a photo, in which he looks like a totally ordinary guy called Douglas.

SWTaWW is the story of Aubry Tourvel, who, in 1885, at the age of nine, contracts a disease that causes her to convulse and bleed uncontrollably if she spends more than 2-4 days (it's variable) at any one place. It's retroactive -- if she spends time at any place she's been before, she gets sick. Thus she has no choice but to travel constantly. She travels around the world over and over. She travels by boat and train and even, in later years, airplane, but by far the majority of the time she travels by foot. She walks through deserts and forests and jungles, hunting and working for her food. She carries a spear and a gun. She finds many friends along the way, and even a few lovers. She loses track of time. Eventually she becomes an old woman with white hair. She (and therefore we) loses track of the year, but by the end of the book commercial air travel is a thing, so we can assume she makes it to the second half of the twentieth century..

In fact, as I read, I played the Five For Fighting song 100 Years. Considering that Aubry's is objectively what almost anyone would consider a LONG walk, I think that Westerbeke's title is intended to imply that any walk encompassed in a single lifetime and a single planet is short. All of us take short walks through the world. As The Sandman tells us, "You get what anybody gets - you get a lifetime".

But wait! Are there libraries? Yes, there are libraries. Or, maybe there is a library. Or maybe it's The Library. Judge that for yourself. SWTaWW is fantasy, and its Library (just like a real library) is a magical place that can transport you to distant places. And there is a magical wooden puzzle ball, whose nature I still don't quite know how to think about.

A Short Walk Through a Wide World is a magical adventure novel that manages to be simultaneously contemplative and fast-moving. Aubry is an easy person to admire and love.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an advance reader copy of A Short Walk Through a Wide World. This review expresses my honest opinions. To be released 9-Apr-2024.

“There are things on this earth that only exist because you have beheld them. If you weren’t there, they never would have been.”

What would it take to encounter, up close and personal, and see, really see, the world around you - to appreciate the things you can comprehend, and to open yourself, fully with no holding back, to the wonders you cannot. Both the deadly and the divine.

For Aubry Tourvel, these are not merely philosophical questions.

For Aubry is cursed.

From the age of nine years old, Aubry has been burdened with a mysterious ailment which causes her to experience an agonizing medical decline when she remains in the same physical place for more than a few days. Set in the late 1800’s, Aubry must roam the world - alone and fierce - in an exploratory role unheard of for girls, or even women, of the time. Trapped into a forced lifelong exile that pits her against an entire wide world of jungles, rivers, mountains and deserts, Aubry must face head-on whatever may befall her.

Along the way, Aubry will also learn about love and it’s misfirings, and just what is, or is not, available to her, in her unavoidably nomadic existence. For Aubry, a lifetime’s loss of “home” (and all that it implies) may very well be her permanent future.

Aubry’s story is a strange and colorful one - a meandering fable peppered with fascinating adventures and a myriad of characters she encounters across the globe - ultimately revealing itself to be an enchanting and magical look at human consciousness, our deeply-rooted connection to the wide world around us, the mystifying nature of time, and the sublime miracle of simply “being”.

With big, bold (often wonderfully chaotic) imagery, encompassing vast geographical vistas, amidst an atlas of far-off and exotic locations, this story is an imaginative feast to serve the explorer in all of us.

Destined to please readers of Fantasy and Magical Realism, along with lovers of a good story everywhere, this book a sheer delight, and one this reader found herself savoring in a single read almost straight through.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

This was a stunning debut about love and the choices we make in life. Aubry's life is a challenging one and this story highlights the strength found within the kindness she finds from others. Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read this arc!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy of A Short Walk Through A Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke in exchange for a review.

Wow. What a debut. The marketing team for this book is 100% on the mark, Westerbeke's novel very much captures the essence of V. E. Schwab's 'The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue'; which is fantastic since that is one of my all time favourite books.

I've sat with this book for about a month now since I finished reading it and I still have some mixed thoughts.
The first three quarters for the book are visually and emotionally captivating. The main character, Aubrey, becomes afflicted with a terrible illness as a small child. If she remains in any place too long she begins to die in a terribly painful and bloody manner. The only cure is to keep moving. The book jumps between various stages of Aubrey life as she travels the world, fending for herself, learning survival tactics, falling madly in love yet cursed to never be with those she loves. If you have a visual imagination this book will take you an incredible journey around the world, to the remotest parts of the planet where small tribes live in harmony with the seasons, where the sun bakes the earth, and the jungle swallows you whole,

On her journey Aubrey occasionally stumbles upon a door in a peculiar place. Through this door is an immense labyrinth styled library filled with an endless number of picture books. Once Aubrey enters the library she loses track of time and once she stumbles out, months, years, or decades have passed. This is one of the more intriguing aspects of the book and one which I will not spoil by discussing further.

The reason I've taken so long in writing my review is that I didn't understand the ending to this book. I won't spoil anything for future readers. Maybe I read the last quarter of the book too quickly, maybe I missed some of the nuances, or maybe the ending just went over my head. It still bothers me because up until that last quarter I felt fully immersed in Aubrey's world and was excited to see how her story ended. I'm hoping that another reader will break down the ending and explain for others what it meant so that I can find closure for this novel.

I would highly recommend this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this gem of a novel. The storyline was different from anything I had read before and this book will stay with me long after I closed the final page.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating 3.75/5

Was a solid 5 star read right up until about the last 10%.

Overall I loved the journey (of places and emotions) that I as a reader was taken on; it was interesting to see glimpses of different parts of the world.

Honestly there is still something about the ending that feels off to me, but the the main story was definitely worth it.

I was so excited to read A Short Walk Through a Wide World, as magical realism and travel/adventure are two types of book I love, and this is one of the rare books that exists in the overlap between those two genres. And it does deliver in both regards, although not in the way I expected.

The book follows a young woman, Aubry Tourvel, as she grows up suffering from a mysterious illness to which the only cure is to keep moving. Every few days, she has to pick up and leave, and as a result has seen more of the world than possibly anyone else. The book explores themes of home and belonging (or lack thereof), identity, communication (some of my favourite parts are when Aubry meets and befriends people with whom she has no common language), and a sense of wonder at witnessing all the world has to offer. I also loved the emphasis on seeing the world at a walking pace.

This is a short novel, and a fun read. If you are someone who enjoys fantasy novels that are largely about the vibes and the atmosphere, this is a book for you. If, however, you can't get past a few plot holes or unanswered mysteries, then you might be a bit frustrated! I fall somewhere in between these two types of readers, so for the most part I was happy to travel around with Aubry and see what happened. Occasionally, however, I had questions that took me out of the story. For instance, at one point it is mentioned that Aubry is running out of places she has never been before, and yet she never seems to travel with any kind of strategy.

This book felt like an introduction to a world that I would like to read more of. A lot of concepts and threads are woven together here, and this book could have been longer and delved deeper into many of them. Hopefully we will see more from this author and get a deeper development of some of these themes, because it is clear that he has unique and intriguing ideas.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

This book is exactly the adult adventure book that it claimed to be. Filled with travel and adventure, we are taken on a journey alongside. Told through time jumps, we feel like we are being told the story by Aubry herself.

It is filled with underlying messages, but the primary one that remains with me is the importance of observing and witnessing the world around you.

While this book didn't leave me thinking about it when I wasn't reading it, it kept me hooked for the times I had it open. I'd recommend this book to those looking for a captivating and cozy read to escape in.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel by Douglas westerbeck. I will be checking out his future novels. I feel the takeaway from this is that people are just looking for a place to call home and also to not take anything for granted because you don't know how much time you have. Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for my advanced copy.