Gerry Largay had a dream to hike the Appalachian Trail and at age sixty-six she was thrilled to finally be doing it. She’d started out hiking with her good friend Jane Lee, and Gerry’s husband George served as support crew. Part way through the journey Jane had a family emergency and had to return home. Gerry decided to hike on alone. She and George met and made friends with many hikers along the way, as George dropped her off and hiked in part way with her some mornings, and drove ahead to the next crossroad meeting spot then hiked in and met her.


Then, there was the fateful day when Geraldine became lost along the trail and everything changed.

I found this to be a very well written book and a very good read. Readers of Strayed’s ‘WILD’ would likely enjoy it, but the sad ending is obviously there. The book showed a great deal of research was involved and that made it very interesting to me, as I am happy as long as I’m learning new things. This had plenty of that in it on many subjects. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author D. Dauphinee, and the publisher.

I am a fan of true crime, and anything that deals with missing persons in woods. It's a dream of mine to hike the AT, so naturally I was VERY excited to read this book. First of all, this book is NOT true crime. Do not go into it thinking that it is. You will be sorely disappointed.
This book is about Gerry "Inchworm" Largay who disappeared from the Appalachian Trail in 2013. I really enjoyed the intricacies of how to be prepared in the wilderness. It was a good, fast read, and I think anyone who enjoys hiking or is interested in starting hiking long trails should read it as more of a "cautionary tale".

I'm on the fence with this one. The first thing I have to say is that it is very well written. It is rich in detail and you'll learn many things about long distance hiking, which has its own culture.
But as soon as I was into the first couple of pages I realized that the premise would be very thin. A middle aged woman goes hiking alone and gets lost and dies. That's a thin premise. How to beef it up? Put in lots of history about the Appalachian Trail, topography, weather, American history and a lot more.
So, as I say, it's well written. People who are devoted to hiking or very interested in getting into it will appreciate this book. But I can't give a generally positive recommendation. That's because I'm not passionately interested.
This story is not about crime on the Trail. It's not a mystery, a whodunit or a whydunit. It's about a passionately interested woman who failed to give herself all the technical gadgetry that could have saved her life, even though a friend offered to get it going for her. She wandered off the trail just enough to get lost and die. There's no mystery. Modern Americans are notorious for underestimating the wilderness.
There's a lesson to be learned here but you have to be really interested to like this book.

Thank you Netgalley and Down East Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

D. Dauphine does an exceptional job of telling the sad, tragic tale of hiker Geraldine “Gerry” Largey, who went missing from a Maine section of the Appalachian Trail in July 2013. I was drawn to this book because I remembered the episode of North Woods Law when Maine wardens tried for weeks to find the missing woman. I knew that years later her body was found, but Dauphine fills in all the missing information.

With histories of the creation of the Appalachian Trail, the purpose of the Navy’s SERE school, and historical examples of what happens to the psyche and one’s physical health when lost, When You Find My Body is a well-rounded and complete tale of the difficulties and dangers of hiking the Appalachian Trail. The author has input from so many sources: Navy SERE instructors, lifelong friends of Geraldine, hikers she met along the trail, and many involved in the search. The book is a wealth of knowledge, not only about Geraldine’s tragic death, but also about what to do and not to do if one becomes lost in the woods. From the opinions of several experienced hikers and search and rescue personnel, it’s clear that with some training and more knowledge, Gerry most likely would have survived her ordeal. If she’d been trained to use a compass or known to follow a water source downhill, she could have made it out of the woods. I would recommend anyone who is considering hiking the Appalachian Trail to read this book. Aside from being well-researched, well-written, and engaging, it just might save your life in the event you too become lost in the woods.

YES I re3ceived a free copy but my review is free and true!!!

Miss-categorized, this book is not true crime. IT IS a good story on the physical and psychology of survival but the only "crime" is the end of the 'inchworm'. I thought the book was waaay too long in spots. The SERE seemed out of place and there was a lot of words put into the character long after she was established I thought. Anyway, cut the excess, drop the 'true crime" and you get 5; as it is 4 stars for me.

When You Find My Body is the story of Geraldine (Gerry) Largay, an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker who disappeared in 2013. I was very excited to see this book is coming out, as my husband and I are avid hikers and I distinctly remember hearing about her disappearance and wondering if we would ever find out what happened to her.

First of all: this book is being marketed as a thriller and or true crime. WHAT?!? It is neither of those, least of all true crime. There was no crime committed here! None! Nothing at all! This is a complete misnomer and will undoubtedly lead to a LOT of disappointed readers. I went into this expecting something like an Ann Rule book, as I didn’t actually know what had happened to Gerry and it said true crime. I was at first very irritated, but decided that it probably isn’t the author’s fault and I really wanted to read Gerry’s story regardless. I’m glad I did, but just be forewarned. NOT A TRUE CRIME OR THRILLER.

The author gives a lot of background information on Gerry, which I was very glad to read. It made her seem more like a real person and less like a statistic. It was also rather sad, as clearly her husband, children, and grandchildren miss her deeply. Gerry touched a lot of lives not only in her “regular” life but also in her life on the Appalachian Trail, where she was known as Inchworm. I loved that she clearly had a sense of humor and could laugh at herself, as she was one of the slower hikers on the trail.

One thing that really was a drawback to this book was the amount of time the author spent on things that had very little relation to Gerry, her family, or her disastrous hike. In one case several pages are spent going over details about the Navy SERE school…totally unnecessary. There is also a lot of background on the AT itself and how it came to be, which might be considered unnecessary as well, but I think gives a really nice look into the history and motivations of people who hike the trail, both in the past and present.

Gerry’s story in the end is a real tragedy, especially when reading how – if she had possibly been better prepared – it most likely would have been avoided all together. I’m sure the author and her family hope that from the writing of this book, people will go out better equipped for whatever adventures in the outdoors they might seek.

3.5/5 stars.

Review will be posted on blog at the link below on 6 May 2019.

First, I want to thank D. Dauphinee, Down East Books and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

If you enjoy learning about all aspects of the Appalachian Trail in Maine, an avid hiker, or enjoy a good missing person story then When You Find My Body by D. Duauphine is for you. This is the story of the disappearance of Geraldine Largay on the Appalachian Trail.

What drew me to this book was the cover and the title of the book. Kudos to the graphic artist who nailed the cover work spot on and grasped the concept of the book.

As stated in the author note this book is more of a reporting of what happened to Geraldine and not a biography of what happened to her on the trail. This book is to not only to celebrate Gerry’s life but also her spirit of adventure, her yearning for lifelong scholarship, and her will to pursue her dreams and her faith.
My heart ached for Gerry who became lost in the woods for months on end and for the loved ones she left behind. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Gerry trying to survive. Let alone her loved ones worrying and searching for her. My heart goes out to the family and their loved ones.

This book is dedicated to Raymond Dauphinee Sr. who taught D. Dauphinee what to do if he were to ever be lost in the woods.

D. Dauphinee did a lot of research and shared a lot of educational information on the Appalachian Trail. For those who enjoy learning about history and the trails they hike on this would also be a perfect book for you.



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5 stars
When You Find My Body
The Disappearance of Geraldine Largay on the Appalachian Trail
By D. Dauphinee
This book covers the fascinating and completely tragic tale of “Inchworm” Gerry Largay’s trek across the Appalachian Trail and her death.
Being from the Midwest, I have heard of the AT but certainly did not know any intimate details regarding it. I enjoyed so much of this book.
I realized how unprepared so many people are for attempting a thru-hike. I was truly astonished at how hard a rescue effort is in an environment like the Maine section of the AT.
Dauphinee thoroughly explores the history and building of the trail; as well as the many dangers associated with attempting a thru-hike.
I felt the love Gerry showed her family, friends and every person she ever met. This is just an incredible story that is extremely well-written. I so very highly recommend it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. The views given are my own. #WHenYouFIndMyBody #NetGalley

As an AT section hiker, I was aware of Inchworm's story. I appreciate the author's details about the search and about who Gerry was. She was clearly well loved and her death a huge loss. I am touched by her story and will think of her and carry her with me as i hike.

Reading books that are actually based on real events and real people are so fascinating to me. I love immersing myself in the story and truly try to understand the main characters. This book was full of so much information and depth. The author did an amazing job taking us through the life and mystery surrounding the disappearance. Thank you NetGalley for this chance.

This is a lovely tribute to Gerry. It seems pretty apparent that her family didn’t cooperate with the book or at least didn’t cooperate much so most of the information is from friends, fellow hikers she met on the trail and experts on hiking, the trail and search and rescue. It’s an interesting story but there were entire sections of history and psychology that I skipped because while maybe interesting to an experienced biker. Just wasn’t interesting to me as someone who enjoys unsolved mysteries that are finally solved. The author did a great job of letting us get to know Gerry and her spirit and I’m sad we lost that light in our world. It was a solid read and well told memoir of a life gone too soon.

What a heartbreaking story. I’m intensely fascinated by people who tackle the AT, and over the past couple of years, I’ve gotten more and more interested in different people’s stories about their time on the AT, but this one is probably the saddest of all, though I’m trying not to be TOO sad over it since Gerry’s story deserves to be known as something more than what happened to her in death.

The author clearly cares a lot about multiple aspects of this book, most of all Gerry herself. His emotion as well as his own experience add a much more personal look into Gerry’s life and also the SAR process, which I knew nothing about. His writing style is just ok, and sometimes he borders on melodrama, but he succeeds at making the reader care about his topic, and really, that’s the most important thing of all.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. I had followed the news coverage of Geraldine “Gerry” Largay's disappearance so I did know who she was. The book was fascinating not only because it told her story, but it also explained how it could have happened that she got lost. It helped make sense of what so many of us couldn't understand and corrected some of the misconceptions during the search for her.
What is unique about this book is the author showed us what hiking the Appalachian Trail was like, he gave us facts, stories about other hikers and also others that had been lost in the Maine woods. There is information in here if someone is lost in the woods what they should do, there is also what one should do to prepare for going into the woods. I found it interesting when I learned that thru-hikers preparing to walk the AT doesn't prepare for the possibility of getting lost. This book is a treasure trove of useful information, a glimpse into walking the AT trail and I want to say a different point of view of walking the AT trail. I learned a lot reading this book and even though it had facts and different aspects it was a story that just flowed along and made for a very interesting read.
There wasn't any blame, the author just wanted this to be part of Geraldine “Gerry” Largay legacy, and a way of helping others from all that was learned. I highly recommend this book and whether you are thinking about walking the AT, going into the woods, hiking, mountain climbing, or just love a good mystery, this is a book you will be glad you read.

I really wnjoyed reading this book. I lived in virginia where a part of the AT came through so it was very nice having those memories. The book was very well written and very descriptive and described the main character as a real person. Although her death on the trail was tragic it sounds like ahe had a great life and lives it to the fulleat doing what she loved. I highly recommend this book for anyone that likes True Crime.