Aubrey finds and then discards a wooden puzzle ball which changes the course of her life. Days later she discovers she must keep moving in order to prevent bleeding to death. Her condition prevents her from forming long lasting relationships, however the flip side of that is she is able to visit places and have experiences that others cannot. The novel is the story of her life’s journey and hope she will find a place she can call home.

I really enjoyed this novel and became quite engaged in Aubrey’s story and how her perspective changed as the novel progressed. I found it uplifting at times and heart breaking at other times. I think it contains themes related to the importance of connecting with others, the perception of choice and how life experiences can help an individual come to understand themself and widen perspectives.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for providing me with a ARC of this novel. All of the opinions offered in this review are solely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this book! This is such a beautifully written book and I read it in the span of a day simply because I couldn't put it down. The chapters are short which I loved. This book made me realize that no matter where you are or what you're doing life is amzing because you get to experience it. The only thing I would have changed about this book is the timeline, it got a bit confusing for me because it wasn't in chronological order.

Aubrey Tourvel is on the run from a mysterious ailment that forces her to keep moving, preventing her from forming lasting connections. The book, reminiscent of V.E. Schwab's work, carves its own unique path with a distinctive plot and globetrotting adventures. As a travel enthusiast, I experienced a lush, sensory journey through Aubrey's eyes, appreciating the author's skillful prose that strikes a balance between ornate and accessible.

Despite the thematic similarities, Westerbeke authentically portrays his female protagonist, crafting a character who is strong-willed, resourceful, resilient, and determined, with a touch of humor. The romantic scenes are tastefully written, showcasing the author's skill in crafting compelling relationships.

The unexpected direction of the ending, reminiscent of the transcendence seen in Interstellar, left me contemplating its satisfaction. Overall, this sweeping adventure is heart-wrenching, poignant, thought-provoking, and joyful, emphasizing the importance of human connection and the resilience of the human spirit. If you're a fan of Addie La Rue and have a thirst for travel, you'll likely find this a delightful read.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars

Beautiful and meandering.

A Short Walk Through a Wide World is the story of Aubry Tourvel, a woman who is unable to remain in any one place for more than a few days due to a curse that would kill her. With no medical treatment options, Aubry begins travelling the world as a child, her only constant companion the strange puzzle ball she found before her journey began.

First and foremost, the writing is beautiful, Westerbeke truly paints a scene.

There is something very lovely and very tragic about this story. It’s been a few weeks between reading it and writing this and I’m still struggling to find the right words for it. For me, this was a slow read that I put down often. Westerbeke has a great handle on how different people may view or respond to the same thing, offering some really interesting insights into travel, wanderlust, and survival.

The world explored in the story is both the one we know and yet also something stranger and incredibly fascinating.

The few relationships we get to see over the course of the novel are lovely and interesting, but, by the very nature of Aubry’s sickness, also tragic. Ultimately, this is Aubry’s story, and the relationships all take a backseat to the adventure and her internal struggle, which may leave some readers wanting more.

There were two parts in this novel that brought tears to my eyes, and yet I am also not satisfied with how some of the storylines were wrapped up. I’m left with mixed, but generally positive, feelings.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for making the DRC available to me. All opinions are my own.

Content Warning: blood, body horror, medical trauma, death, assault, animal death, et cetera

I love being pulled into a story. Where I feel that I'm also there and apart of the journey.

I had travelled into a world unlike ours. A world full of fantasy, magic and adventure and travels.

I will not forget this book anytime soon.

Thank you Simon&Schuster and Netgalley

All thoughts and opinions are my own and aren't influenced by anyone else

Loved this book.

It reminded me of an inspiring Paolo Coelho story.

Aubry, the main character, finds a Chinese puzzle ball and doesn't want to throw it in a wishing well while her two sisters have thrown in their prized possession to have their wish become reality. Instead, Aubry walks away but is then cursed with a sickness where the only cure is to keep on moving. Aubry starts walking, and that takes her around the world, living amazing adventures, meeting people of all races and cultures and finding live along the way.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free, electronic version of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Apr. 9, 2024
“A Short Walk Through the Wide World” by Douglas Westerbeke is part fantasy, part time-travel and pure enjoyment that reminded me of “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue”.
At nine years old, Aubry discovers a wooden puzzle ball and an old well, both items so arbitrary and unremarkable and yet they change young Aubry’s life forever. After these moments, Aubry grows ill with a sudden onset and unknown illness, one that causes convulsions and extreme pain and, as Aubry discovers, the only way to keep it from coming on is to constantly keep in motion. After leaving her family and life behind in Paris, Aubry travels from country to country, unable to stay in one place for longer than two or three days at a time. Although she meets intriguing people, she cannot form a long-term relationship with anyone and, for the most part, endures her travel alone. As she continues to age and wander, Aubry hopes to find a cure for her illness and ends up discovering more about herself and the world around her.
Aubry is a powerful character, setting out into the world at nine years old and surviving every trial set before her. A young girl, then woman, Aubry is lonely as she travels the world solo, unable to form and keep relationships. Everything about Aubry is emotional, admirable and likable and I became immediately invested in her story, hoping for a positive outcome.
Each chapter is given a title, which specifies where Aubry is at the time. Although the novel is told in chronological order (for the most part), there are sections where Aubry jumps to particularly relevant timeframes, or when she is retelling her story and I appreciated the chapter labels at these times.
As Aubry moves from country to country, she spends long periods of time in libraries that appear as portals, providing Aubry with respite and knowledge. This should come as no surprise but these magical libraries were by far my favourite part. The necessity to travel across continents and see unknown wonders, and then to be able to escape in mysterious libraries that appear only to you? Sounds like my kind of place (with the exception of the incurable illness, of course).
“World” is a debut novel, and Westerbeke’ writing is creative and cerebral, without being dense. I am intrigued by his work and can guarantee that he will quickly draw the right amount of attention. I cannot wait to see what Westerbeke does next!

Very much can sense the main theme of...yes the journey is the destination and for the protagonist it will save and enrich her life. The magical realism mood + atmosphere is very interesting to feel. Could sense Aubrey very much could wandering worlds of worlds on different planes of existence and it was interesting to see her growth from bratty kid to wise wander as she adapts to her "illness" and see all the wonders and people the world has to offer.

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel from the author, and I will be reading all his future pieces of work! After I finished this book I had to sit for a while before I could pick up another book. The journey you go on as a reader is amazing. I will be recommending this to many people I know!

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I could give this book all of the stars and it wouldn’t be enough. This is a book where you finish sad that it’s over. You finish and have to sit with the beautiful story that settles both heavily and light in your heart. I’ll be getting a physical book because this is a life book

Walking with Aubry Tourvel through the world was a delight. While it’s a world we know it’s a different world she experiences. A fantastical journey without being a strictly fantasy novel. There are beautiful and heartbreaking secrets, an intimate and full experience of places we’ll never see in such a manner and while the companions are temporary they are brilliant and demonstrate more of the world and humanity. This book is whimsical and does best if you are a passenger princess who wants to follow along for a random adventure.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster/Avid Reader for this advanced reader copy of Douglas Westerbekes debut novel A Short Walk Through A Wide World.

At the age of nine Aubrey Tourvel realizes she cannot stop traveling. After only a couple of days in one place, her curse or illness causing immense pain and bleeding. The only way to avoid this is to move on every few days. As a child she is accompanied by her mother but then moves on alone accompanied only by strangers she meets on her way. Every once in a while a secret door appears leading her into a library that can even transverse countries, picture stories abound but no people. In this mystical journey we are allowed to accompany Aubrey getting to know her and some of her companions in far away lands. This book seems to pick you up and carry you along on a journey of your own. It was a hard one to put down. I recommend it to any fantasy lover. Our world becomes quite mystical as we travel it through someone else's eyes.
Thank you to #NetGalley#Simon&SchusterCanada#AvidReaderPress for this wonderful EARC

At the age of 9, Audrey Torvel finds a puzzle ball. Soon after, she comes down with a terrible medical affliction that only stops if she keeps moving. She can never stay for more than a few days in any one place and can never return to the same place again. This book chronicles her story and travels across the globe from deserts to jungles to small remote villages to major cities to mysterious hidden libraries in ways and in timelines that don’t always fit with the real world. The plot jumps back and forth in time and outlines Audrey’s encounters with others, her loneliness and the development of her understanding of herself and the world.

The plot had many similarities to “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” though Audrey is remembered by those she meets and she becomes famous. The book did not pull me in as I had hoped it would and I felt it dragged in places. At times I thought I was near the end, only to find I was only 2/3 of the way through the book. I also found the ending to be confusing and unresolved, which left me somewhat dissatisfied.

I must commend the author, however, on his beautiful and skillful writing. He shows great imagination and provides wonderful description and clever narrative.

Overall I give this book a rating of 3.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for a review.

At first I wasn't quite sure if I was going to love this book - but as the story progressed I liked it more & more ! There's a strange type of magic within the words & my emotions were hiehgtened especially toward the main character. Overall beautifully written and a very introducing story !!

If a librarian wrote an adventure novel...

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. To be released 9-Apr-2024.

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

What would it take to encounter, up close and personal, and see, really see, the world around you - to appreciate the things you can comprehend, and to open yourself, fully with no holding back, to the wonders you cannot. Both the deadly and the divine.

For Aubry Tourvel, these are not merely philosophical questions.

For Aubry is cursed.

From the age of nine years old, Aubry has been burdened with a mysterious ailment which causes her to experience an agonizing medical decline when she remains in the same physical place for more than a few days. Set in the late 1800’s, Aubry must roam the world - alone and fierce - in an exploratory role unheard of for girls, or even women, of the time. Trapped into a forced lifelong exile that pits her against an entire wide world of jungles, rivers, mountains and deserts, Aubry must face head-on whatever may befall her.

Along the way, Aubry will also learn about love and it’s misfirings, and just what is, or is not, available to her, in her unavoidably nomadic existence. For Aubry, a lifetime’s loss of “home” (and all that it implies) may very well be her permanent future.

Aubry’s story is a strange and colorful one - a meandering fable peppered with fascinating adventures and a myriad of characters she encounters across the globe - ultimately revealing itself to be an enchanting and magical look at human consciousness, our deeply-rooted connection to the wide world around us, the mystifying nature of time, and the sublime miracle of simply “being”.

With big, bold (often wonderfully chaotic) imagery, encompassing vast geographical vistas, amidst an atlas of far-off and exotic locations, this story is an imaginative feast to serve the explorer in all of us.

Destined to please readers of Fantasy and Magical Realism, along with lovers of a good story everywhere, this book a sheer delight, and one this reader found herself savoring in a single read almost straight through.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

This was a stunning debut about love and the choices we make in life. Aubry's life is a challenging one and this story highlights the strength found within the kindness she finds from others. Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read this arc!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy of A Short Walk Through A Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke in exchange for a review.

Wow. What a debut. The marketing team for this book is 100% on the mark, Westerbeke's novel very much captures the essence of V. E. Schwab's 'The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue'; which is fantastic since that is one of my all time favourite books.

I've sat with this book for about a month now since I finished reading it and I still have some mixed thoughts.
The first three quarters for the book are visually and emotionally captivating. The main character, Aubrey, becomes afflicted with a terrible illness as a small child. If she remains in any place too long she begins to die in a terribly painful and bloody manner. The only cure is to keep moving. The book jumps between various stages of Aubrey life as she travels the world, fending for herself, learning survival tactics, falling madly in love yet cursed to never be with those she loves. If you have a visual imagination this book will take you an incredible journey around the world, to the remotest parts of the planet where small tribes live in harmony with the seasons, where the sun bakes the earth, and the jungle swallows you whole,

On her journey Aubrey occasionally stumbles upon a door in a peculiar place. Through this door is an immense labyrinth styled library filled with an endless number of picture books. Once Aubrey enters the library she loses track of time and once she stumbles out, months, years, or decades have passed. This is one of the more intriguing aspects of the book and one which I will not spoil by discussing further.

The reason I've taken so long in writing my review is that I didn't understand the ending to this book. I won't spoil anything for future readers. Maybe I read the last quarter of the book too quickly, maybe I missed some of the nuances, or maybe the ending just went over my head. It still bothers me because up until that last quarter I felt fully immersed in Aubrey's world and was excited to see how her story ended. I'm hoping that another reader will break down the ending and explain for others what it meant so that I can find closure for this novel.

I would highly recommend this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this gem of a novel. The storyline was different from anything I had read before and this book will stay with me long after I closed the final page.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating 3.75/5

Was a solid 5 star read right up until about the last 10%.

Overall I loved the journey (of places and emotions) that I as a reader was taken on; it was interesting to see glimpses of different parts of the world.

Honestly there is still something about the ending that feels off to me, but the the main story was definitely worth it.

I was so excited to read A Short Walk Through a Wide World, as magical realism and travel/adventure are two types of book I love, and this is one of the rare books that exists in the overlap between those two genres. And it does deliver in both regards, although not in the way I expected.

The book follows a young woman, Aubry Tourvel, as she grows up suffering from a mysterious illness to which the only cure is to keep moving. Every few days, she has to pick up and leave, and as a result has seen more of the world than possibly anyone else. The book explores themes of home and belonging (or lack thereof), identity, communication (some of my favourite parts are when Aubry meets and befriends people with whom she has no common language), and a sense of wonder at witnessing all the world has to offer. I also loved the emphasis on seeing the world at a walking pace.

This is a short novel, and a fun read. If you are someone who enjoys fantasy novels that are largely about the vibes and the atmosphere, this is a book for you. If, however, you can't get past a few plot holes or unanswered mysteries, then you might be a bit frustrated! I fall somewhere in between these two types of readers, so for the most part I was happy to travel around with Aubry and see what happened. Occasionally, however, I had questions that took me out of the story. For instance, at one point it is mentioned that Aubry is running out of places she has never been before, and yet she never seems to travel with any kind of strategy.

This book felt like an introduction to a world that I would like to read more of. A lot of concepts and threads are woven together here, and this book could have been longer and delved deeper into many of them. Hopefully we will see more from this author and get a deeper development of some of these themes, because it is clear that he has unique and intriguing ideas.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.