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


At the age of 9, Aubry Tourvel contracts a mysterious illness that causes excessive bleeding and pain. As she moves further and further away from home, in search of a cure, she discovers she can keep the bleeding at bay simply by being on the move. And so begins a lifetime of travel, never staying in the same place longer than three or four days, else the bleeding starts once more.

Told through stories to others she meets on her journey and flashbacks, this is a non-linear tale that has as a circuitous route as the timelines within the story itself. Aubry is young, old, a hunter, a fearless adventurer, a chronicler, always walking. She cannot return to the same place, and therefore her travels take her through cities and remote jungles, from the Greek isles to Russian peninsulas to Middle-Eastern palaces. And as she travels she tells her story.

This book moves from an adventure novel to magic realism when she starts encountering the Libraries that chronicle all of human existence and teleport her between locations. And when her illlness starts talking to her.

This is a fantastic journey across the globe, highlighting the value of connections and of stories, of helping others and what we miss when we move too fast. The relationships Aubry fosters with those she encounters, and the wonder with which she approaches the incredible sights she sees are warm and genuine, and we can feel her sorrows and joys as she leaves those she loved behind again. (Paris brought me to tears!) We can see Aubry evolve from a spoiled kid through a sullen teen to a thoughtful, well rounded adult, both open and guarded.

This was Douglas Westerbeke's debut novel, and it was beautifully written. The scenes were so vivid I could see the roof of stars, the sandstorms, the sleeping elephant, and those magical twisting libraries. Any reader wants a library like that, where we can escape reality and be (literally) transported other places.

I thoroughly enjoyed this!

~Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

(edited for typos)

3.75

This book truly lived up to its unique synopsis. I had a lovely time reading this and know some readers who will adore this, but I don’t think it’s a book for everyone. I think it also has to come into a reader’s life at the right time for them to enjoy it.

I really enjoiyed the characterization in this book - every single person felt real and lived in. The pacing was also well done, fast paced but not too fast that I couldn't savor the good parts!

“Perhaps her illness is a rejection of the sedentary life, her body rebelling against an inertia that mankind has, over the millennia, eased itself into.”

A SHORT WALK THROUGH A WIDE WORLD follows Aubry Tourvel, a young woman cursed with a mysterious condition that requires her to to travel the world to avoid becoming violently ill. Through each new journey around the earth and the countless people she meets along the way, Aubry uncovers invaluable secrets about the world, humanity, and herself. Aubry’s nomadic life is filled with wonder and loneliness, driving her to become a wise, self-sustaining heroine. The premise of this novel captivated me, drew me in, and carried me away to 19th century France and beyond. The library lovers, philosophers, and armchair travelers are going to gobble this one up. This beautiful book is out now!

A spellbinding, heartbreakingly beautiful triumph.

There are books that, once you finish reading them, you wish you could read again for the first time, and you envy every person who will yet come across them and discover the wonders hidden within. And if you are very lucky, you can sense this about a book before you yourself start reading it, and you can savor that first read, letting yourself be swept away by its magic.

This is one of those books for me - in fact, I kept putting off reading it because I knew once I did, I could never again read it for the first time.

In Paris in 1885, Aubry Tourvel is nine years old when she is overcome with a mysterious illness: she starts bleeding to death if she stays in one place for more than a few days, and she can never return to where she has already been. So begins a life spent wandering the globe, and the ensuing story is both a compassionate love letter to the world and a testament to the inherit kindness of its inhabitants. Breathtakingly beautiful in its writing, vivid in its descriptions, it is a fantastical, spellbinding, heartbreakingly tender examination of one‘s place in a vast, wide world, the meaning of home, the importance of human connection and kindness, and the wonders encountered along the way.

I could not recommend it more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A girl has a mysterious curse that prevents her from staying in one place for more than a few days at a time, or ever returning to a place she’s already been.

We’ve got excellent vibes and wonderfully vivid prose, but A Short Walk Through a Wide World doesn’t so much have a plot as a series of non-linear scenes hung together by a capital-M Mystery. Douglas Westerbeke should have take a page from Coco Chanel and removed one mystery before leaving the house. This book is really doing the most, mystery-wise — the puzzle ball, the timeless library, the strange well, the voice of the curse, the curse itself, that ending??? — and while some have more intrigue than others, none have a clearly-defined purpose. Certainly there are some readers content to never get answers to the important questions the book raises (and one suspects there may not be answers) though that really isn’t me.

I liked this book, I just wanted it to come together to mean something more than it does.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5 stars rounded down.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a premise! This book is perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab and Adrienne Young's genre-bending works. Aubry Torvel's spellbinding and inspiring story had me hooked from the very beginning. At its heart, and underneath all the historical fantasy elements and amazing scenery, this book is about the fundamentally human acts of self-discovery and finding meaning in our lives. I LOVED it!

This book is what would happen if the Starless Sea and Addie Larue had a baby. Its the type of story that has no purpose but to be a story. Something to just sit in and experience. Very whimsical. I'm sold pretty much anytime you give me a magical library.

Although I absolutely love this book, its not for readers who need answers, because you're not going to get them.

Douglas Westerbeke's A SHORT WALK THROUGH A WIDE WORLD is a wondrous read -- easy to fall under its narrative spell of globe-trotting Aubrey striving to outrun a curse and tough to categorize into any genre box of fantasy, allegory, fairy tale, science fiction, magical realism....In the end, all that matters is an engaging story about a smart woman using her heart, brains, and courage to live her life the best way she knows how -- learning all the time. My heart yearned for Aubrey over her years of wandering the earth to defy inevitable doom and living adventures and encounters that she never would have done had she been able to blend in and be like everyone else. It was a truly fun read that kept me up too late, turning the pages to see what she would do next. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

I went to a writing workshop taught by author Christian Kiefer once and he said something along the lines of, “Every story is basically The Odyssey told over and over again in different ways”.

A Short Walk Through a Wide World (to be known as ASWTAWW from here on out) is, essentially, an Odyssean story, save Odysseus starts the journey in 1885 as a nine year-old girl named Aubry finds an enigmatic wooden puzzle ball on the ground in front of the house of a neighbor who has died in her home city of Paris. Very shortly after Aubry finds this ball, she becomes struck with some sort of weird affliction that keeps her on the move: She can’t stay in a city for more than a couple of days without starting to die, and she can never go back from whence she came.

This is a wonderfully written book: It’s engaging, interesting, emotional, insightful, and incredibly intriguing. The book is informally broken up into three acts: The beginnings of Aubry’s journey and some of her lessons in love, her adventures in friendship and the beginnings of discovering what the book calls the “Terra Obscura”, and then the book gets more retrospective and sentimental as Aubry grows older and more forgetful after wandering the Earth for almost her entire life before starting to tie some things together for the ending.

It’s a thoughtfully crafted story, written by an author who obviously treasures knowledge in all forms and put a lot of care into his story.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Coming of Age/Historical Fantasy/Literary Fiction/Magical Realism

A Short Walk Through a Wide World tells the magical story of Aubry Tourvel. Aubry is a 9 year old French girl who develops a mysterious condition, where she cannot stay more than a matter of days in one place (nor return to the same place twice) or she will abruptly and painfully start to die. Forced to keep moving, she eventually finds herself on her own. She experiences many adventures and sees much of the earth but can never stay in one place long enough to form lasting attachments, and at times becomes quite feral because of this.

This was a lovely and moving tale that brings up many interesting questions, including, Who are we without our relationships with others? I really enjoyed this one, and while I might in some ways envy Aubry’s ability to see the world, I’m sure glad to have a place to call home.

Thank you Douglas Westerbeke, Avid Reader Press, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

3.75/5
It's 1885 in Paris, and on the way home from school, a little girl discovers a wooden puzzle ball. No matter what she does, she can't seem to rid herself of this puzzle ball. Soon after, she's struck with a mysterious illness. Intense pain, lots of blood, and no cure in sight... until she goes to a place she's never been before. And so the adventures begin for Aubry Tourvel. She can never stay in one place for more than a few days, always moving, never to return to the same place to where she's been before.

My thoughts:
I was smitten from the very first pages of A Short Walk Through a Wide World. I immediately got Around the World in Eighty Days vibes. Westerbeke expertly captures the wonder of late 1800s travel. The trains, the boats. It was all music to my wanderlust ears. However, the reader soon feels the desperation of Aubry's situation and roots for her as she struggles to overcome her unique challenges.

I admit it got a little weird for me towards the end of the book. There were a few "what is happening" moments, but then magic. Pure magic! I was very curious about how Aubry's story would end, but Westerbeke did not disappoint! A Short Walk Through a Wide World is such a special tale, and I can't wait to see what the author writes next!

Read this if you like:
• Around the World in Eighty Days
• Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
• Multiple timelines and short chapters
• Magical realism/adventure fiction

Available now! Many thanks to @avidreaderpress and @simonandschuster for the digital ARC!

This book is a captivating blend of historical and literary fiction with a touch of magical realism that sets it apart. The story takes readers on an incredible journey, introducing them to a host of compelling characters and immersing them in a world of new experiences and perspectives. Through these encounters, the book delves deep into the human experience, exploring themes of love, loss, and resilience. The magic in the story is portrayed in a truly unique and imaginative way, adding an element of wonder to the narrative. Be prepared, however, as this is a story that tugs at your heartstrings, leaving a lingering sense of melancholy long after you've turned the final page

A cross between magical realism and travelogue this is an absolutely amazing story by debut novelist Douglas Westerbeke. At the tender age of nine, youngest Tourvel daughter, Aubry, is afflicted with a mysterious ailment. The doctor is dumbfounded, but it doesn’t take her long to figure out that the only thing that helps is for her to be constantly on the move. The longest she can remain in any one place is three or four days before her symptoms return, and to make it even more difficult for her, she can never return somewhere she’s already been.
A propulsive adventure story of a young obstinate girl who has to mature quickly, learn survival skills and make her way alone in the big, wide world. Along the way she finds many wondrous places and meets many people, both good and bad. There are portals or interdimensional doorways to extraordinary libraries and giant red flowers whose pollen is a powerful anesthetic just to name a few of the marvels she encounters. Great characters and an imaginative plot really make this a magical read. I loved it even if I did feel sad for the heroine. 4.5 stars

This is an adventure that draws you in from the very beginning. I loved that it is written by a fellow librarian who wanted another adventure story out there. And this one is a gem. So much to love and so much to talk about in this book.
A great book for book clubs and anyone seeking adventure.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

A beautiful, existential, magical, and thoughtful read. It’s clear that Douglas Westerbeke has been a lifelong lover of books, and finding out that he is also a librarian made so much sense to me! The story of Aubry Tourvel, a young French girl cursed with a mysterious illness whose symptoms only abate when she travels somewhere new, felt fresh and exciting, with obvious inspiration from other adult fantasy novels, such as V.E. Schwab’s “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.”

I felt captivated throughout by Westerbeke’s confident and cinematic prose; there was incredible imagination, and though the scale of the story could perhaps have felt overwhelming, there was also a grounding appreciation of quiet, poignant moments of connection. I also enjoyed how Aubry’s life story unfolded, snippets of memories and adventures spilling off the pages out of order, each puzzle piece interlocking and overlapping. Over some seventy years, she experiences just about everything her world has to offer: she crosses mountains, falls in love, explores jungles, reads in underground libraries, and meets enough people for several lifetimes.

Eventually all stories must come to an end, and while I’m not sure I fully understood all of the implications of this ending, it felt satisfying in its ambiguity, enigmatic as Aubry has been all her life. “A Short Walk Through A Wide World” is an epic debut that sparked vivid and lasting images in my mind, and I won’t soon forget it.

Thanks to Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow I am not even sure what to say about this one. I was so intrigued by the premise and was immediately drawn in by the story. For a debut author, I found the storytelling to be quite beautiful. I was fascinated by the puzzle ball, I enjoyed Aubry’s interactions with the people she met (especially Lionel and Marta), and I also was so curious by the sickness she experienced whenever staying in one place too long. Unfortunately the ending left me with a lot of questions. I was happy with Aubry’s fate but found myself wanting more answers than I was given. Based on the storytelling alone, I would read another novel by this author.

A Short Walk in a Wide World is an enchanting fantasy adventure story with elements of magical realism. Aubry embarks on an involuntary journey of self-discovery filled with a desire and a need to belong and to connect with others. On her journeys she finds wonderments as well as perilous situations, while encountering kindness and also occasional cruelty. Hers is a life in exile from her home and family.

At the start of Aubry’s story, we see how she adjusts (or fails to adjust) to her new circumstances. Then things start to slow down. However, I was vested enough (and determined enough) to finish this novel. I’m glad I did. While the ending at first-read seems rather open-ended, it actually takes Aubry’s story full-circle. Using the search function on my Kindle, I was fascinated to discover connections that weren’t obvious from a straight-forward reading, particularly connections to events and people from earlier in the story.

In A Short Walk in a Wide World, Douglas Westerbeke has crafted an elaborate, detailed world with engaging characters. Aubry’s growth, changes, and self-awareness from age 9 to that of an “old woman” is believably portrayed as she searches for a place she can call home. With its unique blend of fantasy and magical realism, this thought-provoking novel may not be to everyone’s taste. Nonetheless, it is well-worth reading.

This is one of those books that is defies my usual rating system. It's even difficult to describe. It has a very unique premise. Aubry is nine years old when the symptoms of a mystery illness start. If she doens't keep moving (meaning, traveling forward) then she becomes very ill and will die. She can't stay in the same place for more than a few days and she can't go back to any place she's already been. You can imagine this is a difficult situation for her and her family (reminder: she's only nine!). So, she just starts walking all over the world.

We get to see all the wonderful parts about being a world traveler but we also get to see the lonely and frightening parts. Aubry is female who is alone and, especially when you are in a foreign land where you understand neither the language nor the customs, that can be very dangerous. We also get to see that humanity, overall, is full of friendly people who will gladly help someone in need.

The author does an amazing job of describing all the places she visits and the people she meets. This a magical realism/fantasy book and it is has a slow, meandering plot but the journey is entertaining and interesting. There were definitely bits I found confusing and I thought the end was a little rushed but, overall, what an enjoyable read.

I think this is one of those books you could read again and again and, each time you read it, you'll pick up something new from its pages. This would also make a fantastic movie and a book club read; you can chat about this one for hours.

I've never read anything like this; Aubry's journey through time and space was a ride unlike any other I've been on before.

Douglas Westerbeke’s debut novel, “A Short Walk Through a Wide World,” is a captivating tale that blends elements of “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” with the adventurous spirit of “Life of Pi.” The story follows Aubry Tourvel, a young girl cursed to wander perpetually, unable to stay in one place for long. Her life becomes a globe-trotting adventure, from the scorching sands of the Calashino Sand Sea to the snow-capped Himalayan peaks.
This is a thought-provoking and inspiring novel that reminds us that life’s true meaning lies in the journey, no matter how long it lasts. Highly recommended for fans of magical realism and epic adventures.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.