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Nine-year-old Aubry Tourvel is spoiled and picky. When she comes across a peculiar wooden puzzle ball on her way home from school, she doesn’t take it home. But somehow it ends up in her bag anyway. And when her two sisters decide to sacrifice items that mean something to them to an odd well in hopes of making the world better, Aubry takes her new puzzle ball with the intent of helping someone. But at the moment she should toss it in the well, she just can’t do it.

Soon after, she starts bleeding and spasming. Aubry is in terrible pain, and her parents are horrified. The doctor can’t find a description of what she’s experiencing in his literature. But as she and her family leave Paris, she immediately recovers. Soon, she finds that she can only stay in one place for three days at the most until the strange disease returns. From that time on, Aubry is constantly on the go. For years, she primarily walks … around and around the world. She finds ways to provide for herself and gets help from kind strangers. And she cannot stay long to enjoy friendships or lovers. The illness kicks in within several days if she doesn’t go somewhere she has never been before.

The book’s description says this: “A spellbinding and inspiring story about discovering meaning in a life that seems otherwise impossible, A Short Walk Through a Wide World reminds us that it’s not the destination, but rather the journey—no matter how long it lasts—that makes us who we are.”

I confess that I didn’t quite feel that throughout the story. It went in some strange directions and seemed at times to be saying that, but at other times not. The message felt muddied as the story meandered. The penultimate section of the book felt like a fever dream, honestly, and one whose meaning I wasn’t entirely sure of either. The conclusion was interesting, and I liked how it tied together some important elements. However, I still did not feel quite satisfied. I had hoped for more from the book, and it’s possible I’m just being dense, or that I’d benefit from a good discussion with other readers. Either way, it just wasn’t quite for me.

Rated: Moderate. Profanity includes 5 uses of strong language, a few instances of moderate profanity, 20 uses of mild language, and about 20 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes some “closed-door” scenes, references to sex and removing clothes. There are some instances of peril and brief violence, primarily a scene in which a woman kills several men who are intent on harming her.

Click here to purchase your copy of A Short Walk Through a Wide World  on Amazon. 

*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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