Are you wild about Wild? I certainly am!
I always love encouraging friends to read because it means
we can discuss the book together. So
when one of my friends mentioned reading Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, I filed the title in my head for future reference. Only, the title did not stay filed for
long. Literally the next day I heard
Cheryl in interview with one of my favourite radio hosts. With two recommendations, I bought the book.
Wild chronicles
the physical and emotional journey of self-discovery as Cheryl hikes the
Pacific Coast Trail (PCT). Pacific Coast
Trail, you ask? Don’t worry, I hadn’t
heard of it either and there’s a handy map to guide you along the way. The PCT encompasses both dessert and snowy
mountains. Both terrains yield their own
challenges – challenges Cheryl doesn’t stray from.
Within the first few chapters, we see the mostly
pulled-together Cheryl with a husband, career goals, and a somewhat functional
family fall apart after the death of her mother. It is this broken young woman that, in a
moment of clarity (some might call it insanity) decides to hike the Pacific
Coast Trail . . . alone.
Solely determined to hoist the monster of a backpack her
inexperience piles on her and complete the task she started, Cheryl’s
determination both humors and inspires her readers. The prose through which Cheryl leads us her
journey brings us right alongside her.
The blisters forming on her feet are real; the loneliness she feels is
tangible; the excitement at meeting fellow hikers joyous; the exhaustion, well,
that is just completely overwhelming. And yet, the strength Cheryl wields pushes
through all these until she emerges from her journey a new woman.
So much a new woman that she changes her last name to
“Strayed”. As Cheryl explains “strayed”
defines her. She had to stray from normalcy, conquer a battle to become the
woman she is today.
Truly a memoir that draws the reader in, I recommend this
book for EVERYONE!
