'Wild is one of the most inspirational books I have ever read and perfectly captures the strength that one woman can have.'
Wild tells the story of Cheryl Strayed’s journey on the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,663 mile (4,286 km) hiking trail that stretches from the border of Mexico to the border of Canada. She took on this massive adventure with very little knowledge of hiking and no experience, an incredibly heavy back pack nicknamed Monster and shoes one size too small, with little more than determination driving her forward, step by painful step.
Cheryl started the hike when she was 26 years old. When she was 22 her mother died a rapid death from cancer, unsettling everything in Cheryl’s life so that four years later she was mixed up in drugs, adultery and divorcing her husband. So when she picked up a copy of The Pacific Crest Trail, Volume 1: California, she saw it as a way of finding herself again. So she decided to spend three months walking as much of the trail as she could.
Cheryl’s recountings of her time on the trail are mixed with stories from her life before, mostly centered around her relationship with her mother, drawing memories from her childhood and the years before her mother fell ill, to the traumatic time in the hospital when she was trying to deal with her mother’s encroaching death and finally the years afterwards when everything fell apart, including her relationship with her husband, Paul.
As we follow her journey through the desert, mountains, valleys, forests, blistering heat, rain and snow, we also follow her journey to strength – both physical and emotional.
It is the story of a woman who overcomes the restraints of fear. And fear is something women deal with every day, whether you are on a hazardous mountain trail or not. She decided to hike the trail, as a woman on her own in the wilderness, despite fear.
Wild is honest, sad and moving, frightening, suspense filled and really funny at times. It is brilliantly written, with vivid sketches of her surroundings in the wilderness and the people she encounters. It is the type of book you want to read over and over again.
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Visit Cheryl Strayed’s website or follow her on Twitter @CherylStrayed.