Welcome to Litsy!

The author braids her own experiences of wilderness walking (and fear of heights) with biographies of women writers and artists who used walking as a way of exerting control over their lives and as a creative wellspring. While listening, I revisited happy memories of long distance walks that I accomplished in Europe. I recommend this.

I special ordered this from my local bookstore because of the tagged audiobook. Looking forward to reading it once my eyesight improves. I can only manage text in a fairly large font at the moment. 👀

Part personal journey, the stories of Georgia O‘Keeffe, Nan Shepherd, Simone du Beauvoir (and others!) are all eloquently woven together in a book about forgotten women‘s history, and how walking helped them reimagine their trajectories. I‘m in awe of the ways in which the author seamlessly interweaves her own experiences with those of the women she writes about. If you loved Salt Path, add this to your pile.

Philosophers & poets have long applauded the therapeutic powers of walking in nature. Now, science helps us understand how & why walking, wherever it takes place, is so effective. New research shows that leg exercise, in particular weight-bearing leg exercise like walking, instructs the brain to produce the neurons needed to cope with stress & change. ↘️

A mix of feminism and nature writing. An extremely well-written look at the obstacles these creative women in history hurdled to take the walks that sustained them. I think the inclusion of Simone de Beauvoir weakened the narrative as she groomed students she taught for sexual relations. Also, her sense of connection with walking was held to a specific time period whereas the other women made it more of a lifelong endeavor. Thanks to edelweiss

It was definitely an interesting read, but I found the overall tone to be melancholy rather than inspiring. So many of the women seem to have led either sad or unfulfilled lives in many ways. Overall I rated it 3.5🌟

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, John Murray Press/Two Roads, for the opportunity to read an ARC.