★★★★☆ If a librarian wrote an adventure novel...

A Short Walk Through a Wide World

Douglas Westerbeke

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.

Amazon review

Goodreads review

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