Book Review: A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke

This thought-provoking debut novel has a lot of promising elements, and Westerbeke’s writing is not just good, it’s often quite beautiful.  

The first half of A Short Walk Through a Wide World kept me riveted, but after that the constant jumping through time and the inevitable revolving door of characters left me feeling like I’d lost the plot.  Aubrey’s strange ailment, the mystery of the puzzle ball and even Aubrey herself all left me wanting more, with nothing quite developed or explored enough for my liking. Maybe as a reader, I was much like many of the people that she encountered over her lifetime, not able to be with her long enough to really know her.  

While the premise was quite intriguing, in the end I don’t think the Addie La Rue comparisons did it any favours. That said, I have a feeling we will see great things in the future from this talented librarian-turned-novelist, and I look forward to seeing what’s next.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thanks so much to Simon & Schuster Canada for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.